The lack of attention to quality control by house builders in the Australian State of Victoria has been a contentious issue for more than two decades. Ina an attempt to improve the quality of housing, various mechanisms such as voluntary and compulsory registration schemes have been adopted and discarded by industry-based organisations and government. While builders are encouraged to improve construction quality, little is known and published about the quality of housing produced by owner builders specifically during the seven year warranty period after construction is completed. With this in mind, this thesis presents research findings that compare the latent defects in houses built by owner builders with those of registered builders. Using inspection reports provided by Archicentre <a subsidiary of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects> a sample of 1772 houses, of which 1002 were owner builders <HO> and 770 were registered builders <HR> was used to determine the severity, the incidence, and location of defects within each house type. Houses less than a year old were found to contain a siginificant proportion of defects for both types of builder. In addition, it was found that HO builders had a mean of 2.74 defects per house and HR builders mean of 2.30 defects per house for the seven-year warranty period. To determine whether there was a significant difference between the quality of housing produced by HO and HR the statistical technique of Chi-squared analysis was undertaken at a 5% level of significance. The analysis revealed that there was a significant difference between the quality of housing procured by owner <HO> and registered <HR> builders. In particular, it was found that the important category of workmanship for HO builders had significantly less defects that HR builders, which suggests that HR builders need to improve their managerial practices and the quality of on-site supervision. In essence, this thesis has provided a series of benchmark metrics for latent defects against which current and future legislative programs con be compared for new housing in the State of Victoria. It is recommended that future research focus on the methods for improving the role of the on-site supervisor as they are considered to be the important link in the quality chain.

Bibliography: leaves 213-234.

Colloidal self assembly is an efficient method for making 3-D ordered nanostructures suitable for materials such as photonic crystals and macroscopic solids for catalysis and sensor applications. Colloidal crystals grown by convective methods exhibit defects on two different scales. Macro defects such as cracks and void bands originate from the dynamics of meniscus motion during colloidal crystal growth while micro defects like vacancies, dislocation and stacking faults are indigenous to the colloidal crystalline structure. This paper analyses the crystallography and energetics of the microscopic defects from the point of view of classical thermodynamics and discusses the strategy for the control of the macroscopic defects through optimization of the liquid-vapor interface. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

In this dissertation, experimental investigations and theoretical studies on the stochastic matrix cracking evolution under static and fatigue loading in composite laminates with defects are presented. The presented work demonstrates a methodology that accounts for the statistically distributed defects in damage mechanics models for the assessment of the integrity of composites and for the structural design of composites. The experimental study deals with the mechanisms of the formation of a single crack on a micro-scale and the stochastic process for the multiplication of cracks on a macro-scale. The defects introduced by the manufacturing processes are found to have significant effect on the matrix cracking evolution. Influenced by the distributed defects, the initiation and multiplication of cracks evolve in a stochastic way. The experimental study on the in-plane shear stress finds the detrimental effect of the shear stress on the fatigue performance of composite laminates. Combined with the transverse tensile stress, the in-plane shear stress induces multiple inclined microcracks in the matrix, which enhance the initiation and propagation of the major matrix cracks. Based on the experimental investigations, a statistical model for the stochastic matrix cracking evolution on the macro-scale is developed. Simulations based on the statistical model yield accurate predictions for both static and fatigue loading compared to the experimental data. The Weibull distribution of the static strength is estimated by the statistical model by comparing against the experimental crack density data. The estimated Weibull distribution of the static strength provides an efficient approach to characterize the manufacturing quality of composite laminates. Compared to deterministic approaches, the Weibull distribution of the static strength provides comprehensive information of the strength property of composite laminates.

Obesity in pregnancy has been associated with an elevated risk for neural tube defects, though it is unknown if this is linked to a lower folate status in obese women. Studies have identified a reduced folate status among obese women even after controlling for folate intake. Thus, it is possible that folic acid pharmacokinetics are altered in the obese body. In this study, we compared the pharmacokinetics of folic acid in obese and non-obese women of childbearing age, following administration of a weight-adjusted dose. Area under the concentration-time curve was found to be significantly higher in the obese group, with the dose per kilogram lean body weight most strongly predicting systemic exposure. Estimation of the daily dose required to achieve protective blood concentrations did not identify a need to change supplementation recommendations for obese women. Accordingly, current guidelines appear to suggest adequate doses for obese women of childbearing age.

Obesity in pregnancy has been associated with an elevated risk for neural tube defects, though it is unknown if this is linked to a lower folate status in obese women. Studies have identified a reduced folate status among obese women even after controlling for folate intake. Thus, it is possible that folic acid pharmacokinetics are altered in the obese body. In this study, we compared the pharmacokinetics of folic acid in obese and non-obese women of childbearing age, following administration of a weight-adjusted dose. Area under the concentration-time curve was found to be significantly higher in the obese group, with the dose per kilogram lean body weight most strongly predicting systemic exposure. Estimation of the daily dose required to achieve protective blood concentrations did not identify a need to change supplementation recommendations for obese women. Accordingly, current guidelines appear to suggest adequate doses for obese women of childbearing age.

Purpose To investigate associations between maternal use of selected medications during early pregnancy and the risk of hypospadias in male infants. Methods We used data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, a multi-site, population-based, case-control study. We analyzed data from 1,537 case infants with second or third degree isolated hypospadias and 4,314 male control infants born from 1997-2007. Exposure was based on reported use of any prescription or over-the-counter medication or herbal product, for which there were at least 5 exposed cases, from 1 month before to 4 months after conception, excluding topicals, vitamins, minerals, and products for which the components were unknown. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using multivariable logistic regression, adjusting for several confounders. Results Of the 195 medication components with at least 5 exposed cases, 89 components met the inclusion criteria and were assessed-28 herbal and 61 non-herbal components. Hypospadias was associated with reported use of cephalexin (aOR 3.06; 95% CI 1.02, 9.18), phenylpropanolamine HCl (aOR 2.68; 95% CI 1.06, 6.80), and ibuprofen (aOR 1.16; 95% CI 1.00, 1.34), in primary analyses. Conclusions We replicated a previously observed association between maternal exposure to phenylpropanolamine HCl and hypospadias. The associations with cephalexin and ibuprofen have not previously been reported. Given the exploratory nature of the analyses, these results should be considered hypothesis-generating. Better understanding of the potential fetal effects will allow clinicians and women of childbearing age to make more informed decisions regarding the use of medications during pregnancy.

Craniofacial defects resulting from trauma and resection present many challenges to reconstruction due to the complex structure, combinations of tissues, and environment, with exposure to the oral, skin and nasal mucosal pathogens. Tissue engineering seeks to regenerate the tissues lost in these defects; however, the composite nature and proximity to colonizing bacteria remain difficult to overcome. Additionally, many tissue engineering approaches have further hurdles to overcome in the regulatory process to clinical translation. As such these studies investigated a two stage strategy employing an antibiotic-releasing porous polymethylmethacrylate space maintainer fabricated with materials currently part of products approved or cleared by the United States Food and Drug Administration, expediting the translation to the clinic. This porous space maintainer holds the bone defect open allowing soft tissue to heal around the defect. The space maintainer can then be removed and one regenerated in the defect. These studies investigated the individual components of this strategy. The porous space maintainer showed similar soft tissue healing and response to non-porous space maintainers in a rabbit composite tissue defect. In humans, the porous space maintainers were well tolerated and maintained a soft tissue envelope for closure after implantation of a bone regeneration technology. The antibiotic-releasing space maintainers showed release of antibiotics from 1-5 weeks, which could be controlled by loading and fabrication parameters. In vivo, space maintainers releasing a high dose of antibiotics for an extended period of time increased soft tissue healing over burst release space maintainers in an infected composite tissue defect model in a rabbit mandible. Finally, stabilization of bone defects and regeneration could be improved through scaffold structures and delivery of a bone forming growth factor. These studies illustrate the possibility of the two stage strategy for repair of composite tissue defects of the craniofacial complex.

Introduction : Structural cardiac malformations affects 0.8-1% of children born worldwide, in Sweden 800-1000 children per year. Most children with congenital heart disease and their families will have frequent and lifelong contact with highly specialized care. Awareness of the parents experience is crucial in order to improve the nursing care. These experiences will be illustrated using a theoretical model of family-based nursing. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe experiences of being a parent to a child with a congenital heart disease. Method:A review of the literature was undertaken using systematic review principles. The search strategy included four electronic bibliographic databases, using the search terms experience, heart defects congenital, heart disease congenital, parent, parents and arenting. Nine studies focused on parent's experience. Seven used solely qualitative methodology and two studies used mixed methods. The analysis was performed and guided by qualitative content analysis. Results: Analysis of the nine studies on parents experience revealed two categories and six subcategories. The categories were: "feelings and need at the time of diagnosis" and "the time at home". Parents of children with congenital heart disease needed support from both health care and from their own social network. Their need was greatest at the time of diagnosis and surgery. Gradually everyday life stabilised. The result shows the parent's experience of anxiety and stress as a common path through the entire process. In time, the parents started to use different coping strategies to handle the situation. Conclusion: Nurses who meet parents of children with congenital heart disease should be aware of the need for repeated information, both oral and written. It is also important to provide information to siblings and relatives. Though familyfocused care the nurse can support parents in their parenting role and also include siblings. Sufficient information leads to better coping and parents feel more comfortable to take care of the sick child and their family.

In dieser Arbeit wurde das moderne Spektroskopieverfahren „push-broom hyperspectral imaging“ für die Analyse von multikristallinem Silicium eingesetzt. Diese Methode ermöglicht das gleichzeitige Aufzeichnen mehrerer Spektren. Daraus ergeben sich kürzere Messzeiten im Vergleich zu anderen spektroskopischen Aufbauten. So konnten strahlende Defektübergänge in multikristallinem Silicium umfassend charakterisiert werden. Die strahlenden Defekte sind an Korngrenzen („grain boundaries“) lokalisiert, weshalb die Bezeichnungen GB1-4 vergeben wurden. Die elektrische Aktivität dieser strahlenden Defekte ist vernachlässigbar. Sie beeinflussen nicht den Wirkungsgrad von multikristallinen Siliciumsolarzellen. Verschiedene experimentelle Ergebnisse weisen darauf hin, dass es sich um ausgeschiedene Verunreinigungen an Korngrenzen handelt.