Building a Talent Pipeline: Development of the ‘Alltech Mini-MBA’

Alltech, Executive Education, MBA, Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,

Blunted cardiac reactions to acute psychological stress predict symptoms of depression five years later: Evidence from a large community study

We recently reported a cross-sectional negative relationship between cardiovascular reactivity and depressive symptoms. The present analyses examined the prospective association between reactivity and symptoms of depression five years later. At the earlier time point depressive symptoms, using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and cardiovascular reactions to a standard mental stress were measured in 1608 adults comprising three distinct age cohorts: 24-, 44-, and 63-year olds. Depression was re-assessed using the HADS five years later. Heart rate reactions to acute psychological stress were negatively associated with subsequent depressive symptoms; the lower the reactivity the higher the depression scores. This association withstood adjustment for symptom scores at the earlier time point, and for socio-demographic factors and medication status. The mechanisms underlying this prospective relationship remain to be determined

Conceptualising leadership in early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand

The New Zealand Teachers Council Te Pouherenga Kaiako o Aotearoa is pleased to publish this occasional paper focused on leadership in early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand. The project that led to this publication grew out of a desire of the Council’s Early Childhood Education Advisory Group to promote some action on leadership development specifically for ECE. Whereas there is a well-developed leadership strategy for the school sector there is no equivalent support for teachers in ECE. Yet it is well established in the literature that an effective professional learning community is most likely to result from leadership that has learning as the central focus. Thus the absence of a cohesive leadership strategy was seen as a significant risk to professional initiatives supporting quality teaching in ECE

Cytokines and chemokines in the pathogenesis of low back pain

Degeneration of the intervertebral disc (IVD) is thought to account for 40% of all cases of chronic low back pain. Alterations in the behaviour of the IVDs’ native cell population mediate the processes that lead to structural failure, as seen in IVD degeneration. Cytokines are implicated in this process, several studies have identified that Interleukin-1 (IL-1) and Tumour Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) expression is increased in degenerate IVDs compared to their normal counterparts. Furthermore, it has been shown in vitro that these cytokines stimulate alterations in the behaviour of the IVDs’ native cells in a similar manner to those observed in IVD degeneration. However, IL-1 and TNF-α are only two of a large group of intercellular signalling molecules known as cytokines, and studies investigating the expression of other cytokines in the human IVD are limited. This thesis demonstrates the production of numerous cytokines and chemokines (chemoattractant cytokines) by the human IVDs’ native cell population. Detailed gene and protein expression studies identified several novel cytokines and chemokines that are differentially expressed in cells isolated from degenerate or prolapsed IVDs compared to those isolated from the normal counterpart. Coexpression of receptors for these molecules was also identified, indicating a capacity of these cells to respond to cytokine intercellular signalling. The response of IVD cells to cytokine and chemokine stimulation in vitro was investigated. The data presented indicates that inter-regulatory relationships exist between the cytokines and chemokines of the intervertebral disc. Particularly, IL-1 exerts modulatory potential over the expression of other cytokines and chemokines by IVD cells. Effects of stimulation were also observed in relation to reduced anabolic metabolism and increased catabolic metabolism, both of which are characteristic features of IVD degeneration. Together, the findings presented in this thesis indicate that cytokines and chemokines are integral to the pathogenesis of IVD degeneration and prolapse that may lead to low back pain

DEVELOPING FLUOROGEN ACTIVATING PROTEIN-FLUORESCENT PROTEIN FRET PAIRS FOR LIVE CELL IMAGING

Fluorogen activating proteins (FAPs) are genetically encoded tags made from single chain antibody fragments (scFv) designed to bind fluorogens with high specificity. Both the fluorogen and FAP can be modified to provide flexibility in properties such as affinity, membrane permeability, spectra, and quantum yield. The fluorogen Malachite Green (MG) has two excitation peaks, the maximum at 630 nm and a secondary peak at 450 nm. The emission spectra of blue-emitting fluorescence proteins, such as mCerulean (mCer), overlap with the MG secondary peak, generating a FRET pair with large Stokes shift emission. Using 405 nm excitation of mCer, we observe acceptor sensitized emission at wavelengths greater than 650 nm with no spectral crosstalk between the donor and acceptor channels. Additionally, donor only controls can be acquired for all cells as the acceptor is not present until after the addition of the fluorogen, providing intra-cellular control. The FAP-FRET system has been characterized using proof of principle constructs: FAP-mCer-transmembrane (TM) as a positive FRET control and FAP-TM-mCer as a negative FRET control and expressed in HeLa cells. Multiple MG derivatives were compared and imaging parameters were optimized to determine the optimal FRET pair. Analysis was performed using code written in Matlab to mask the cell membrane and quantify FRET efficiencies, based on donor intensity before and after addition of fluorogen. Data from several fluorogen showed high energy transfer efficiency (~30%) with the FAP-mCer-TM construct compared to negligible FRET (~4%) for FAP-TM-mCer. Additional techniques were performed to support the FRET efficiency data, including spectral imaging and FLIM, which also reported FRET efficiency around 30% with the positive constructs and negligible FRET with the negative constructs. The FAP-FRET system is currently being used to study the kinetics of signaling proteins within the FcεRI pathway

An Examination of the Competitive Advantages of the Raisin Industries in California and Turkey

Agribusiness,

Exploration of body perception and body dissatisfaction in young adults with intellectual disability

BackgroundPeople with intellectual disability (ID) are more likely to be overweight or obese. Research has shown that body dissatisfaction is a key factor in influencing unhealthy eating behaviour. More evidence is needed relating to how people with ID perceive their bodies in order to provide effectively targeted weight management programmes.AimsThis study aimed to investigate whether people with ID have concepts for underweight, overweight and healthyweight, and whether they can apply these concepts to themselves. It also aimed to explore body perception bias through comparison of perceived self to independent figure ratings, and body dissatisfaction through perceived-ideal body discrepancy measurement and a series of open-ended questions.MethodMixed methodology was used to explore body perception and body dissatisfaction in 40 young adults with ID compared to 48 individuals without ID. The Stunkard Figure Rating Scale assessed how participants would like to look, and their concepts of weight categories.ResultsYoung adults with ID tend to hold positive beliefs about their bodies. Females with ID were likely to underestimate their body size. Individuals with ID understood what is meant by ‘overweight’, ‘healthy-weight’ and ‘underweight’ although these concepts were different to those without ID. Individuals with ID were unable to accurately apply these body size categories to themselves.ConclusionThese findings suggest that individuals with ID will first need support to understand how concepts of body size apply to themselves in order to facilitate weight management

Evidence for Ubiquitous Collimated Galactic-Scale Outflows along the Star-Forming Sequence at z~0.5

We present an analysis of the MgII 2796, 2803 and FeII 2586, 2600 absorption line profiles in individual spectra of 105 galaxies at 0.3<z<1.4. The galaxies, drawn from redshift surveys of the GOODS fields and the Extended Groth Strip, fully sample the range in star formation rates (SFRs) occupied by the star-forming sequence with stellar masses log M_*/M_sun > 9.5 at 0.3<z<0.7. Using the Doppler shifts of the MgII and FeII absorption lines as tracers of cool gas kinematics, we detect large-scale winds in 66+/-5% of the galaxies. HST/ACS imaging and our spectral analysis indicate that the outflow detection rate depends primarily on galaxy orientation: winds are detected in ~89% of galaxies having inclinations (i) <30 degrees (face-on), while the wind detection rate is only ~45% in objects having i>50 degrees (edge-on). Combined with the comparatively weak dependence of the wind detection rate on intrinsic galaxy properties, this suggests that biconical outflows are ubiquitous in normal, star-forming galaxies at z~0.5. We find that the wind velocity is correlated with host galaxy M_* at 3.4-sigma significance, while the equivalent width of the flow is correlated with host galaxy SFR at 3.5-sigma significance, suggesting that hosts with higher SFR may launch more material into outflows and/or generate a larger velocity spread for the absorbing clouds. Assuming that the gas is launched into dark matter halos with simple, isothermal density profiles, the wind velocities measured for the bulk of the cool material (~200-400 km/s) are sufficient to enable escape from the halo potentials only for the lowest-M_* systems in the sample. However, the outflows typically carry sufficient energy to reach distances of >50 kpc, and may therefore be a viable source of cool material for the massive circumgalactic medium observed around bright galaxies at z~0. [abridged]Comment: Submitted to ApJ. 61 pages, 25 figures, 4 tables, 4 appendices. Uses emulateapj forma