Unlearned Lessons from Risk, Debt Service, Bank Credit, and Asymmetric Information

This paper presents a model of the economy that explains the economic bubbles, based on bank credit, debt service and risk. In the first period of the model, banks offer too much credit seeking to maximise their expected profits. The excessive debt created in the boom period generates, in the second-period, the expansion of the debt bubble, which induces failures in the financial market and the downturn of the overall economy. Business cycles are inherent in the free market systems. They may be caused by endogenous factors of financial markets and, given the absence of adequate, effective regulation, they may be unavoidable. Credit crunch in the financial market is therefore highly probable. In order to reduce substantially the risk of such occurrences, economic and financial policies are proposed. Key words: Asymmetric information, bank credit, risk, debt service and business cycle

A Study of EDI, Processes, Operations and How Employees are Motivated at a Kenyan Bank

According to Brabston, L. and Porter, (2004) Information system (IS) and business strategy are essential facets in any organization particularly a bank, we are interested in this sector because it is a major component in Kenya‟s growing economy and so far hardly any research has been done on the efficiency of a Kenyan banks. This dissertation concentrates on a small service enterprise and how IS/IT as well as work motivation strategy can influence the business strategy; we also study how the bank stays in constant communication with the head office

A Study of EDI, Processes, Operations and How Employees are Motivated at a Kenyan Bank

According to Brabston, L. and Porter, (2004) Information system (IS) and business strategy are essential facets in any organization particularly a bank, we are interested in this sector because it is a major component in Kenya‟s growing economy and so far hardly any research has been done on the efficiency of a Kenyan banks. This dissertation concentrates on a small service enterprise and how IS/IT as well as work motivation strategy can influence the business strategy; we also study how the bank stays in constant communication with the head office. How the staff initiates and maintains motivation which turn helps the bank achieve profits is the other part of this dissertation. A small branch of a bank (referred to as Imperial Mombasa in this dissertation) which has approximately 10-60 employees was selected for the case study. Generally speaking, IS comes about when interrelated components work together to collect, process, store and distribute information. Most enterprises around the world use a computer-based form known as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI); in this dissertation, we use the abbreviation EDI due to its simplicity. To run an IS; the enterprise needs information technology (IT). IT is the hardware which is connected to the IS, such as computer, servers, computer network material etc (Brandt, C. and Lindberg, R., 2006). The latter part looks at how imperial needs motivated employees to sustain growth and offer better services to their clients (the bank‟s staffs are taken into context). Again many managers nowadays are not aware of the effects that motivation can have on their business. Therefore, it is essential that they learn and understand the importance of the factors that determine positive motivation in the workplace (Frey, B. and Osterloh, M., 2002). It is also important for the company‟s well being to find ways of encouragement and sustaining fundamental motivation. But motivating people is normally easier said than done. Employees cannot be programmed to embrace the company‟s objectives very easily. At the moment, many employers are focusing to motivate the employees by means of monetary incentives. However, these techniques of motivations are not always enough to keep employees motivated, and essential motivation is very important in ensuring companies achieve their major goals. Extrinsic motivation satisfies indirect needs, which are unrelated to the task they are performing. Intrinsic motivation on the other hand satisfies direct needs, which aspires the people to perform a particular task,intrinsic motivation comes from carrying out an activity rather than from the result of an action (Beswick, D., 2006). According to Bateman, T. and Frey, B. (2001) job tasks are intrinsically motivating when motivators like the responsibility involved in their job, the challenges at work, the achievement in the work, the amount of skill variety, and advancement opportunity. One of the key functions of an organization is therefore ensuring the correct form of motivation is used in the organization. It is also crucial for management to focus on the right ways of motivating the employees so that the company can use its shared resources as effectively as possible (Beswick, D., 2006). It is very important for management to have knowledge about the ways the employees are motivated; by monetary incentives or by internal factors like recognition and challenge at work. The employees‟ are the company's greatest assets and no matter how efficient is the company‟s technology or machinery; the effectiveness and efficiency of a company staff cannot be replaced

Bacterial contamination of inanimate surfaces and equipment in the intensive care unit

Intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired infections are a challenging health problem worldwide, especially when caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens. In ICUs, inanimate surfaces and equipment (e.g., bedrails, stethoscopes, medical charts, ultrasound machine) may be contaminated by bacteria, including MDR isolates. Cross-transmission of microorganisms from inanimate surfaces may have a significant role for ICU-acquired colonization and infections. Contamination may result from healthcare workers' hands or by direct patient shedding of bacteria which are able to survive up to several months on dry surfaces. A higher environmental contamination has been reported around infected patients than around patients who are only colonized and, in this last group, a correlation has been observed between frequency of environmental contamination and culture-positive body sites. Healthcare workers not only contaminate their hands after direct patient contact but also after touching inanimate surfaces and equipment in the patient zone (the patient and his/her immediate surroundings). Inadequate hand hygiene before and after entering a patient zone may result in cross-transmission of pathogens and patient colonization or infection. A number of equipment items and commonly used objects in ICU carry bacteria which, in most cases, show the same antibiotic susceptibility profiles of those isolated from patients. The aim of this review is to provide an updated evidence about contamination of inanimate surfaces and equipment in ICU in light of the concept of patient zone and the possible implications for bacterial pathogen cross-transmission to critically ill patients

Emergency percutaneous needle decompression for tension pneumoperitoneum

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tension pneumoperitoneum as a complication of iatrogenic bowel perforation during endoscopy is a dramatic condition in which intraperitoneal air under pressure causes hemodynamic and ventilatory compromise. Like tension pneumothorax, urgent intervention is required. Immediate surgical decompression though is not always possible due to the limitations of the preclinical management and sometimes to capacity constraints of medical staff and equipment in the clinic.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This is a retrospective analysis of cases of pneumoperitoneum and tension pneumoperitoneum due to iatrogenic bowel perforation. All patients admitted to our surgical department between January 2005 and October 2010 were included. Tension pneumoperitoneum was diagnosed in those patients presenting signs of hemodynamic and ventilatory compromise in addition to abdominal distension.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Between January 2005 and October 2010 eleven patients with iatrogenic bowel perforation were admitted to our surgical department. The mean time between perforation and admission was 36 ± 14 hrs (range 30 min - 130 hrs), between ER admission and begin of the operation 3 hrs and 15 min ± 47 min (range 60 min - 9 hrs). Three out of eleven patients had clinical signs of tension pneumoperitoneum. In those patients emergency percutaneous needle decompression was performed with a 16G venous catheter. This improved significantly the patients' condition (stabilization of vital signs, reducing jugular vein congestion), bridging the time to the start of the operation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Hemodynamical and respiratory compromise in addition to abdominal distension shortly after endoscopy are strongly suggestive of tension pneumoperitoneum due to iatrogenic bowel perforation. This is a rare but life threatening condition and it can be managed in a preclinical and clinical setting with emergency percutaneous needle decompression like tension pneumothorax. Emergency percutaneous decompression is no definitive treatment, only a method to bridge the time gap to definitive surgical repair.</p

Sound propagation around rigid barriers laterally confined by tall buildings

This paper focuses on the propagation of sound waves in the presence of acoustic barriers placed close to very tall buildings. The boundary element method (BEM) is used to model the acoustic barrier, while the presence of the tall buildings is taken into account by using the image source method. Different geometries are analyzed, representing the cases of a single building, two buildings forming a corner and three buildings defining a laterally confined space. The acoustic barrier is assumed to be non-absorbing, and all the buildings and the ground are modeled as infinite rigid plane surfaces. Calculations are performed in the frequency domain and time signals are then obtained by means of Inverse Fourier Transforms. The sound pressure loss provided by the acoustic barrier is computed, illustrating the importance of the lateral confinements.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V1S-458WC1V-2/1/e22100c682ff34b162d71d73339e5be

Sound pressure level attenuation provided by thin rigid screens coupled to tall buildings

This paper computes the sound pressure attenuation provided by thin rigid screens placed on the walls of a tall building to protect the building from the direct sound incidence produced by sound pressure sources placed in its vicinity. The problem is formulated in the frequency domain via the Traction Boundary Element Method (TBEM), which overcomes the thin-body difficulty arising with the classical Boundary Element Method (BEM) formulation. The building, the screens and the ground are assumed to be infinitely long and rigid. The Green's functions used in the TBEM formulation allow the solution to be obtained without discretizing the flat solid ground and vertical solid façade. Thus, only the boundary of each rigid screen is modelled, which allows the TBEM to be efficient even at high excitation frequencies. The hypersingular integrals that result from the implementation of the TBEM are computed analytically. The algorithm is verified using a BEM model, which incorporates the Green's functions for a full space, thus requiring the full discretization of the domain. The model developed is then used to simulate wave propagation in the vicinity of thin rigid screens with different dimensions and geometries. The two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) time and frequency responses and sound pressure attenuation results are both computed over grids of receivers placed perpendicular and parallel to the building wall.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6WM3-4NMCV71-5/1/05fa9e0f203c93cbdb578430fe4544a