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Although the theory of the socio-cultural approach to creativity is gaining steam, empirical studies with advanced statistical tools are lagging behind. To address the gap of empirical studies integrating individual, social environmental, and cultural factors, we examined how motivational factors and environmental responsiveness were jointly related to college students' creative achievement in different nations. Participants were university students from eight culturally and geographically diverse regions: Argentina, Austria, Chile, China, Kosovo, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. Overall, the results painted a generally positive picture of the relationship between environmental responsiveness, motivational factors, and creative achievement. By employing structural equation modeling (SEM) and multiple-group SEM (MGSEM) methods, results partially supported the mediation role of motivational factors between environmental responsiveness and creative achievement. In addition, we observed more consistent relationships between parental responsiveness and motivational factors or creative achievement, than lecturer. This held in common across all seven countries which fulfilled the requirements for the SEM process, indicating that parents play a potential vital role in supporting students' motivational aspects and creative achievements, whereas lecturers supporting role is relative to the cultural organizational circumstances. As the first large-scale empirical study with a socio-cultural approach, we invited further discussion and proposed future cross-cultural research of this kind. Research implications and practical suggestions were addressed.

Purpose: With a contribution of 39% to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, reducing the environmental impacts of buildings plays an undisputed role in achieving climate goals. Therefore, the development of projects with a low carbon footprint is of crucial importance. Although several active and passive solutions as well as design strategies have been developed, identifying critical levers to minimise GHG emissions and the cost of future building projects is still a problem faced every day by designers. Methods: Motivated by this knowledge gap in this study, we conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) of a residential building situated in Austria. To identify the critical levers for reducing impacts and cost, 37 scenarios with three different advanced energetic standards are created. The scenarios with the various standards are developed through the combination of different construction materials, insulation materials and technical building equipment. In the eco-efficiency assessment (LCA and LCCA), a reference study period of 50 years is assumed. The life cycle of the building scenarios was analysed according to the European standard EN-15978. Results: Results show that improving the energetic standard does not yield an overall cost savings potential. The additional construction cost (23%) for energy efficiency measures, including thermal insulation and change of technical building equipment, is higher than the reduction potential in operating cost over 50 years. On the other hand, the improvement of energetic standards allows a reduction of the environmental impacts by 25%. Conclusions: To ensure a cost-optimal environmental improvement of buildings, it is crucial to conduct an eco-efficiency assessment during the design process of energy-efficient buildings. This study shows how improving the energetic standard of buildings can reduce environmental impacts with slightly increased life cycle cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trichomonas vaginalis causes trichomoniasis, the most recurrent sexually transmitted infection (STI) worldwide. Genital mycoplasmas, not considered STI agents, are frequently isolated from the female genital tract. A symbiosis between Mycoplasma species and T. vaginalis has been described. The aim of this study was to conduct molecular-based analyses of vaginal specimens, thus assessing the prevalence of non-STI Mycoplasma infections. In total, 582 samples from female patients and an additional 20 T. vaginalis isolates were analyzed by PCR using Mycoplasma specific 16S rRNA primers, and the obtained PCR products were sequenced. Mycoplasma species were detected in 28.2% of the collected vaginal samples. Mycoplasma hominis was found in 21.5% of the specimens, Ureaplasma species were found in 7.5% of the samples. The molecular data of the newly described species, CandidatusMycoplasma girerdii, were obtained for the first time in Austria, in a sample also positive for T. vaginalis. Analyses of the cultivated T. vaginalis strains confirmed the presence of M. hominis in two out of 20 samples. A comparably high prevalence of genital mycoplasmas was revealed through advanced diagnostic assays, with M. hominis and U. parvum being the most prevalent species. The previously described symbiotic relationship between M. hominis and T. vaginalis was confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: A detailed assessment of the environmental impacts of the building requires a substantial amount of data that is time- and effort-consuming. However, limitation of the system boundary to certain materials and components can provide misleading impact calculation. In order to calculate the error gap between detailed and simplified assessments, the purpose of this article is to present a detailed calculation of the environmental impacts of the building by including in the system boundary, the technical, and electrical equipment. Method: To that end, the environmental impacts of a laboratory and research building situated in Graz-Austria are assessed following the EN-15978 norm. Within the system boundaries of the study, the material and components of building fabric, technical, and electronic equipment for the building lifecycle stages of production, construction, replacement, operational energy and water, and end-of-life are considered. The input data regarding the quantity of materials is collected from the design and tendering documents, invoices, and from discussion with the head of the building's construction site. Primary energy and global warming potential indicators are calculated on the basis of a functional unit of 1 m2 of energy reference area (ERA) per year, considering a reference building service life of 50 years. Results and discussion: The primary energy indicator of the building is equal to 1698 MJ/m2ERA/year. The embodied impacts are found to be responsible for 28% of which 6.4% is due to technical and electronic equipment. Furthermore, the embodied impacts for the global warming potential, equal to 28.3 kg CO2e/m2ERA/year, are responsible for 73%. Together, technical and electrical equipment are the largest responsible aspects, accounting for 38% of the total impacts. Simplified and detailed result comparisons show a gap of 29% and 7.7% for global warming and primary energy indicators. These differences were from the embodied impacts and largely from the exclusion of electrical equipment from the study's system boundary. Conclusions: Technical and electrical equipment present a significant contribution to the overall environmental impacts of the building. Worthy of inclusion in the system boundary of the study, the environmental impacts of technical and electrical equipment must be calculated in detail or considered with a reliable ratio in the early design phase of the project. Further research is necessary to address the detailed impact calculation of the equipment and notably the minimization of their impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature review clearly indicates that there are significant differences concerning analytic approaches and inferences on the dynamics, patterns, and methods applied in examining the wage-price relationship. Regardless of the fact that there have been enormous efforts invested in trying to untangle the complexities surrounding the wage-price setting process, this paper provides new and statistically robust evidence on the wage-price setting process in Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Netherlands and Austria, covering the period of time 2000:Q1-2015:Q4. The data suggests that wage setters in all the countries, except in Austria, have under-adjusted for inflation in the post 2008 period, as probably the costs of such behaviour were low. Specifically, the cointegration tests provide strong evidence in favour of hypothesis that wages and prices in the respective countries are strongly cointegrated. Moreover, the results produced by VECM models provide statistically robust evidence in favour of a long-run relationship between wages and prices. However, the price elasticity coefficients suggest that there may be a valid case in favour of fully rational wage-price setting behaviour in these countries of Eurozone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buildings constructed today need to be nearly-zero energy/emission buildings (nZEB) during operation. Amongst strategies to meet today's nZEB performance requirements are passive building concepts. However, it is unclear to which degree such concepts aid buildings to achieve net-zero carbon targets. To address this research gap, we conduct a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the passive nZEB concept '2226' based on its original prototype office building in Austria. We deploy a quantity takeoff and the measured end-energy demand to calculate the embodied and operational GHG emissions. In line with the recent draft of the building LCA standard EN15978, we split energy usage into building-integrated and non-integrated systems. Embodied GHG emissions make up about a third of the total life cycle GHG emissions (33%), and operational energy use accounts for two-thirds (67%) of the life cycle GHG emissions, considering the current Austrian energy grid mix. The contextualisation with the literature shows better performance in comparison to existing building standards, yet no reduction is achieved compared to buildings with similar nZEB ambitions. The measured end-energy analysis shows that two-thirds (68%) of the operational GHG emissions are allocated to building-integrated systems, i.e., those regulated by today's EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. Almost a third (30%) of the operational GHG emissions can be allocated to non-integrated systems, currently being reported as optional in the latest draft of the standard EN15978. We recommend extending the system boundary of building LCA including these end-energy uses by non-integrated systems in future building regulation and building LCA practice. • LCA of an innovative passive nZEB office building in Austria. • Embodied GHG emissions from BIM-based quantity take off; operational GHG emissions from measured data. • Allocation of operational GHG emissionsin distinct sub-modules B6.1, B6.2 and B6.3 • 30% of operational GHG emissions allocated to non-building integrated systems. • Reflections on other studies and critical discussion in relation to net-zero carbon targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the manganese concentrations in teeth samples of individuals from different geographical locations. Material and Methods: Eighty-six teeth samples were collected from adult (18-65 years) individuals living in two towns in Kosova (Klina and Mitrovica), and in Austria (Graz). Total of 40 and 46 teeth samples were taken from male and female individuals, respectively. Manganese concentrations in teeth samples were measured by using inductively plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results: The mean manganese concentration in permanent teeth from Klina residents is 2.03 ± 1.44 mg/kg, from Mitrovica residents 1.42 ± 0.71 mg/kg, and from Graz residents 1.01 ± 0.85. Manganese concentrations in teeth of individuals from Klina and Mitrovica are significantly higher than in Graz (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference between manganese levels according to sex in overall tested groups (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Manganese concentrations were higher in teeth samples from Kosova than in samples from Austria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of buildings, the literature has investigated many strategies to tackle operational emissions, which are traditionally the largest contributor to overall emissions. As a result, embodied emissions are gaining increased attention, not only due to the decrease in the relative share of operational emissions but also due to increased material needs, e.g. the use of additional thermal insulation in buildings. Some of these strategies, such as the decarbonisation of the energy grid, could also help decrease the embodied emissions of building materials. The objective of this paper is to investigate the influence of increased renewable electricity use in building material production. It also examines future trends in the manufacturing processes – such as an intensified use of bioenergy, improvements in energy efficiency and the introduction of carbon capture and storage – on the GHG emissions of buildings. These strategies are analysed in a combined "future materials" scenario on a macro scale within the Tyrol province in Austria. With a focus on new residential constructions, six design variations of two building case studies are assessed using life cycle assessment. They are then projected to 2050 at the provincial level. The results of the future materials scenario point towards a promising embodied GHG reduction, up to 19% in this analysis. Larger mitigation effects would appear in the 2040s and 2050s, meaning future manufacturing technologies can be seen as a long-term investment. Their reduction potential surpasses the potential impact of an increase in wooden constructions. The latter achieved up to 7% reduction in GHG emissions, which would be mostly visible in the early decades rather than in later ones. These reduction percentages remain lower than those which could be attained at the operational energy level, with reductions of up to 72%. The obtained results are discussed in the light of other published regional and global studies to identify the possible sources of variations. Critical reflections on carbon capture and storage, as well as renewables, additionally highlight the intrinsic challenges of such key technologies. [Display omitted] • Analysis of future trends in manufacturing process (renewable electricity, etc.) • Projection at the building stock level using life cycle assessment. • Comparison with impact of renewable electricity on the operational stage. • 19% reduction achieved (embodied emissions) versus 72% (operational emissions). • Reflections on other studies and key technologies (carbon capture and storage). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]