The impact of ability-, motivation- and opportunity-enhancing HR sub-bundles on employee wellbeing: An examination of nonlinearities and occupational differences in skill levels

Existing research examines the impact of human resource (HR) practices on employee wellbeing by considering each practice in isolation or multiple practices as a bundle, focusing on linear associations. Drawing on the too-much-of-a-good-thing (TMGT) meta-theory, we examine possible nonlinear effects of Ability Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) sub-bundles on job satisfaction and job stress. We, also, examine boundary conditions on whether and how the nature of the identified curvilinear associations varies across employees in high-, medium-, and low-skilled occupations. Using data from the Workplace Employment Relations Study (WERS2011), we uncover an inverse U-shaped association between motivation-enhancing (ME) practices and job satisfaction and a U-shaped association between opportunity-enhancing (OE) practices and job stress. No evidence of a curvilinear ability-enhancing (AE) practices-wellbeing association emerges. Additionally, occupational differences in skills levels moderate the curvilinear ME practices-stress association. Likewise, occupational skills differences moderate the associations between OE practices and job satisfaction, and work stress. There is no suggestion that occupational differences moderate the AE practices-wellbeing association. These findings underline the contingent nature of the TMGT effect and call for a more nuanced investigation of the HR-wellbeing association

Chloride intracellular Channel 4 as a therapeutic target in the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) is a high-mortality disease centred on the progressive dysfunction of the right ventricle, as a result of pulmonary artery lumen narrowing and increased pulmonary vascular resistance. Chloride intracellular channel (CLIC) 4 has been recently suspected to play a role in the development of PAH pathogenesis via the propagation of vascular remodelling, a hallmark of PAH. CLIC4's involvement is linked to a newly-hypothesised CLIC4/Arf6 pathway, involving the protein Arf GTPase-activating protein (GIT) 1. This thesis shows the investigation into CLIC4 interactions with inhibitor Digoxin, and GIT1, which was modelled by assigning CLIC4 residues to a 2D Heteronuclear Single Quantum Coherence (HSQC) NMR spectrum. The results allowed a binding site on CLIC4 to be predicted manually and computationally, and CLIC4-GIT1 interactions were determined which strongly suggests CLIC4:GIT1 interactions in vivo. Overall, this thesis provides evidence of CLIC4's involvement in vascular remodelling pathways, and its viability as a therapeutic target and supports the novel Arf6/CLIC4 pathway believed to propagate PAH development. With this, the study provides new ideas into combatting PAH development, in a bid to reduce PAH-related mortality

The Positive Impact of Conservation Action

Governments recently adopted new global targets to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity. It is therefore crucial to understand the outcomes of conservation actions. We conducted a global meta-analysis of 186 studies (including 665 trials) that measured biodiversity over time and compared outcomes under conservation action with a suitable counterfactual of no action. We find that in two-thirds of cases, conservation either improved the state of biodiversity or at least slowed declines. Specifically, we find that interventions targeted at species and ecosystems, such as invasive species control, habitat loss reduction and restoration, protected areas, and sustainable management, are highly effective and have large effect sizes. This provides the strongest evidence to date that conservation actions are successful but require transformational scaling up to meet global targets

The rhetoric and reality of choice and autonomy when older people are discharged from community hospital at the end-of-Life in England: A constructivist grounded theory study

There has been an increasing acknowledgement in the UK of the importance of recognising frailty as a condition that leaves older people vulnerable to dramatic, sudden changes in health triggered by seemingly small events. In policy, the approach to managing frailty is often an emphasis on staying well with limited consideration to frailty as an end-of-life phase. Meanwhile, discharge from hospital continues to be complex. Overstretched acute hospitals are juxtaposed with community and social services that struggle to keep up with the demand of those being discharged and the labelling of older people as “bed blockers” at the centre of delayed discharges. This paper reports a study underpinned by constructivist grounded theory methodology, with the aim of exploring the experiences and perceptions of stakeholders. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 57 participants including patients, their informal carer(s), community hospital staff, community health professionals, and care home managers. The core category of “the drive to discharge conveyor belt” was derived from data analysis. A significant finding of this study was that of the carer, their burden, and their intrinsic role in facilitating discharge, filling in gaps in services, coordinating services, and enabling the patient to stay at home, with little consideration of their choices or autonomy. The “drive to discharge” impacts older people, their informal carers, and health professional. This study suggests how they may be supported, through an ethical lens

An overview of application-oriented multifunctional large-scale stationary battery and hydrogen hybrid energy storage system

The imperative to address traditional energy crises and environmental concerns has accelerated the need for energy structure transformation. However, the variable nature of renewable energy poses challenges in meeting complex practical energy requirements. To address this issue, the construction of a multifunctional large-scale stationary energy storage system is considered an effective solution. This paper critically examines the battery and hydrogen hybrid energy storage systems. Both technologies face limitations hindering them from fully meeting future energy storage needs, such as large storage capacity in limited space, frequent storage with rapid response, and continuous storage without loss. Batteries, with their rapid response (90 %), excel in frequent short-duration energy storage. However, limitations such as a self-discharge rate (>1 %) and capacity loss (∼20 %) restrict their use for long-duration energy storage. Hydrogen, as a potential energy carrier, is suitable for large-scale, long-duration energy storage due to its high energy density, steady state, and low loss. Nevertheless, it is less efficient for frequent energy storage due to its low storage efficiency (∼50 %). Ongoing research suggests that a battery and hydrogen hybrid energy storage system could combine the strengths of both technologies to meet the growing demand for large-scale, long-duration energy storage. To assess their applied potentials, this paper provides a detailed analysis of the research status of both energy storage technologies using proposed key performance indices. Additionally, application-oriented future directions and challenges of the battery and hydrogen hybrid energy storage system are outlined from multiple perspectives, offering guidance for the development of advanced energy storage systems

Dental morphology in homo habilis and its implications for the evolution of early homo.

The phylogenetic position of Homo habilis is central to debates over the origin and early evolution of the genus Homo. A large portion of the species hypodigm consists of dental remains, but they have only been studied at the often worn enamel surface. We investigate the morphology of the H. habilis enamel-dentine junction (EDJ), which is preserved in cases of moderate tooth wear and known to carry a strong taxonomic signal. Geometric morphometrics is used to characterise dentine crown shape and size across the entire mandibular and maxillary tooth rows, compared with a broad comparative sample (n = 712). We find that EDJ morphology in H. habilis is for the most part remarkably primitive, supporting the hypothesis that the H. habilis hypodigm has more in common with Australopithecus than later Homo. Additionally, the chronologically younger specimen OH 16 displays a suite of derived features; its inclusion in H. habilis leads to excessive levels of variation

A systematic review of research on staff training as an intervention to develop communication in children and adults with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities

Introduction This paper aims to identify to what extent staff training interventions are successful in enhancing the development of communication skills in people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. Methods A systematic review was undertaken, conforming to PRISMA guidelines. English language, peer reviewed, empirical studies of staff training interventions to enhance the communication of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities were included. Databases Scopus, Web of Science, Proquest, Linguistics and Language Behaviour Abstracts (LLBA) and Medline were searched in July 2015 and updated in December 2022. Quality appraisal was conducted on 13 studies using Crowe's Critical Appraisal Tool (CCAT). Results Few good quality evaluations of interventions were found. Challenges to research rigour included the diversity of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities, small sample sizes, intervention intensity and the management of fidelity. Conclusions Manualised and bespoke interventions showed promise in improving staff communication and responsiveness

‘Monty, Bring the Blood Can!’ Pulling Teeth in Working-Class Lancashire, 1900-1948

Working-class health cultures before the NHS have long been of scholarly interest but those related to oral health are chronically underexamined. This article examines one important aspect of this history - tooth pulling - in early twentieth-century Lancashire. By highlighting the dynamics of market supply and demand, it demonstrates how and why the tooth pulling services of non-orthodox practitioners called dental mechanics remained popular despite the increasing monopolisation of oral health by dentists. While dentists characterised mechanics as quacks and offered expensive and exclusionary services many feared, working-class Lancastrians sought out mechanics because they formed a trusted part of their communities. This demonstration of a population’s preference for unorthodox over orthodox practitioners provides a much-needed counter-narrative to professionalisation in oral health and highlights the significance of geographically specific traditions over the values of medicine and science

Oxygen isotopic compositions of fresh rooftop micrometeorites from the Budel collection — Insights into the contemporary cosmic dust flux

Cosmic dust particles originate from a wide variety of solar system and interstellar objects, including sources not identified among meteorite collections. Particles that survive atmospheric entry are retrieved on the Earth's surface as micrometeorites. The recovery of these micrometeorites has recently advanced to rooftop sites. Here, we present the results of an extensive isotopic study on this type of rooftop micrometeorite from the Budel collection, the Netherlands, accreted to the Earth between October 31, 2018 and June 16, 2021. The triple oxygen isotopic compositions of 80 silica‐dominated cosmic spherules (CSs) with diameters ranging between 105 and 515 μm are obtained relying on 213 in situ spot analyses determined using ion microprobe. Our analyzed population spans a large range of isotopic compositions and is dominated by carbonaceous chondritic sources. In situ measurements on several CSs support a possible continuum between 16O‐rich and 16O‐poor compositions following the CM mixing line, showing that 16O‐poor CSs may be genetically related to aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrites. We demonstrate that weathering in the terrestrial environment has negligible effects on the isotopic compositions of the studied CSs and attempt to quantify the effects of kinetic mass‐dependent fractionation and admixture of terrestrial oxygen during atmospheric entry. The results further corroborate previously suggested relations between CS texture and the duration and intensity of the heating pulse experienced during atmospheric deceleration. Finally, the young and well‐constrained terrestrial age of the collection provides insights into the most recent flux of cosmic dust. Our results indicate no major recent changes in the global flux compared with collections sampled over thousand‐ to million‐year time scales and demonstrate that 16O‐poor material is still represented in the modern‐day cosmic dust flux at a relative abundance of ~13%–15%. As such, rooftop micrometeorites represent a valuable reservoir to study the characteristics of the contemporary cosmic dust flux

Taking Responsibility for the Climate Crisis in Massachusetts: Climate Activism, Justice, and Organizing to Construct a Green New Deal

Based on fifteen-months fieldwork conducted in 2018-19, this thesis examines the decision of a climate movement organization in Massachusetts - People for Mass Climate Action (PMCA)- to frame its activism and organizing in terms of a campaign strategy titled Constructing a Massachusetts Green New Deal. Through an exploration of the concept of responsibility, the thesis focuses on the strategic deliberation that produced the campaign strategy and the political-moral reasoning behind PMCA's interpretation of the Green New Deal. In so doing, it views climate justice as a distinctive political-moral modality that is predicated on, and generates, intersectional responses to the climate crisis rooted in cross-movement coalition building, solidarity organizing, understandings of procedural justice, and the cultivation of political-moral subjectivities. It also explores the organizational dynamics, tensions, and ambivalences that the campaign strategy - and the campaign selection process out of which it emerged - helped to reveal, particularly with regards to the relationship between (professional) organizing and activism, as well as the desire to balance 'bottom-up' participation with strategic direction from relatively 'top-down' leadership. Overall, the thesis makes two primary arguments. First, that the concept of responsibility provides a window into the ways in which climate movement actors construct and enact political-moral responses to the climate crisis. Second, that it is necessary to bridge the anthropology of ethics and political anthropology in order to appreciate my interlocutors' attempts to imagine and engender more just worlds. In other words, my ethnography demonstrates the importance of examining the ways in which moral understandings, evaluations, and subjectivity, political deliberations and aspirations, and considerations of strategic agency, are entwined