High functional diversity in deep-sea fish communities and increasing intraspecific trait variation with increasing latitude

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Charmonium Absorption in the Meson-exchange Model

We review the meson-exchange model for charmonium absorption by hadrons. This includes the construction of the interaction Lagrangians, the determination of the coupling constants, the introduction of form factors, and the predicted cross sections for $J/\psi$ absorption by both mesons and nucleons. We further discuss the effects due to anomalous parity interactions, uncertainties in form factors, constraints from chiral symmetry, and the change of charmed meson mass in medium on the cross sections for charmonium absorption in hadronic matter.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures. Talk given at Quark Matter 2002 (QM 2002), Nantes, France, 18-24 July 2002. To appear in the proceedings (Nucl. Phys. A

Human Resource Management and Circular Economy: A Critical Perspective

While there is an increase in the number of organisations disclosing their commitment or intentions to embrace the circular economy for sustainable futures, the role of individuals found within these organisations and their management remains inconspicuous. Current disclosures on Human Resource (HR) and the role of Human Resource Management (HRM) at firm level Circular Economic (CE) transitions and practices are conceptual and few, which limits both academics and practitioners’ understanding regarding the practical implications of CE on organisations HR and how these could be managed. This research, therefore, addresses this gap and intends to provide critical, empirical evidence and interpretations of HR and the role of HRM within organisations CE pursuits – using six organisations (case studies). The case studies included in this paper forms about ten per cent of the cases - to be analysed for the second part of the study. These six case studies are selected to facilitate a pilot study, to test the research approach/methods adopted to derive the research findings. Previous research findings on firm-level CE functional areas has predominantly focused on product and process design, supply chain, marketing and sales management; however, analysis of these case studies found that currently, HRM role as a functional area that includes training, recruitment/selection, performance and rewards management process are not captured in firm-level CE transitions. Nonetheless, in terms of a critical perspective of HR and the role of HRM within CE organisations, the analysis of these case studies captured the broader social outcomes such as job creation, improvement in wellbeing and a change in organisational culture. But it remains to be seen if similar trends would be identified within a wider sample of business cases the researchers intend to examine to extend this research

Census politics in deeply divided societies

Population censuses in societies that are deeply divided along ethnic, religious or linguistic lines can be sensitive affairs – particularly where political settlements seek to maintain peace through the proportional sharing of power between groups. This brief sets out some key findings from a research project investigating the relationship between census politics and the design of political institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kenya, Lebanon and Northern Ireland

Patient and public involvement facilitators: Could they be the key to the NHS quality improvement agenda?

Objective Research into patient and public involvement (PPI) has not examined in detail patient and public involvement facilitators’ (PPIFs) roles and activities. This study analysed PPIFs’ roles using qualitative data gathered from three different UK health‐care organizations. Design Thematic analysis was used to examine cross‐sectional data collected using a mixed‐methods approach from three organizations: a mental health trust, a community health social enterprise and an acute hospital trust. The data set comprised of 27 interviews and 48 observations. Findings Patient and public involvement facilitators roles included the leadership and management of PPI interventions, developing health‐care practices and influencing quality improvements (QI). They usually occupied middle‐management grades but their PPIF role involved working in isolation or in small teams. They reported facilitating the development and maintenance of relationships between patients and the public, and health‐care professionals and service managers. These roles sometimes required them to use conflict resolution skills and involved considerable emotional labour. Integrating information from PPI into service improvement processes was reported to be a challenge for these individuals. Conclusions Patient and public involvement facilitators capture and hold information that can be used in service improvement. However, they work with limited resources and support. Health‐care organizations need to offer more practical support to PPIFs in their efforts to improve care quality, particularly by making their role integral to developing QI strategies

Embracing additive manufacture: implications for foot and ankle orthosis design

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The design of foot and ankle orthoses is currently limited by the methods used to fabricate the devices, particularly in terms of geometric freedom and potential to include innovative new features. Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, where objects are constructed via a series of sub-millimetre layers of a substrate material, may present the opportunity to overcome these limitations and allow novel devices to be produced that are highly personalised for the individual, both in terms of fit and functionality.</p> <p>Two novel devices, a foot orthosis (FO) designed to include adjustable elements to relieve pressure at the metatarsal heads, and an ankle foot orthosis (AFO) designed to have adjustable stiffness levels in the sagittal plane, were developed and fabricated using AM. The devices were then tested on a healthy participant to determine if the intended biomechanical modes of action were achieved.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The adjustable, pressure relieving FO was found to be able to significantly reduce pressure under the targeted metatarsal heads. The AFO was shown to have distinct effects on ankle kinematics which could be varied by adjusting the stiffness level of the device.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results presented here demonstrate the potential design freedom made available by AM, and suggest that it may allow novel personalised orthotic devices to be produced which are beyond the current state of the art.</p

Proposal of a Model for IT Service Continuity Management

Micro and small companies in the software area now represent more than 90% of organizations in the country and grow 6% annually on average. However, the lack of planning in these companies in business continuity management contributes to their mortality when problems occur, such as disasters and disruption of system services. The implementation of IT Service Continuity Management as a tool for planning would be the solution. This research presents the current level of maturity of these companies in a Micro scenario and Small IT Companies in Paraná, at Londrina and Cascavel region

Trypanosoma cruzi Immune Response Modulation Decreases Microbiota in Rhodnius prolixus Gut and Is Crucial for Parasite Survival and Development

Trypanosoma cruzi in order to complete its development in the digestive tract of Rhodnius prolixus needs to overcome the immune reactions and microbiota trypanolytic activity of the gut. We demonstrate that in R. prolixus following infection with epimastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi clone Dm28c and, in comparison with uninfected control insects, the midgut contained (i) fewer bacteria, (ii) higher parasite numbers, and (iii) reduced nitrite and nitrate production and increased phenoloxidase and antibacterial activities. In addition, in insects pre-treated with antibiotic and then infected with Dm28c, there were also reduced bacteria numbers and a higher parasite load compared with insects solely infected with parasites. Furthermore, and in contrast to insects infected with Dm28c, infection with T. cruzi Y strain resulted in a slight decreased numbers of gut bacteria but not sufficient to mediate a successful parasite infection. We conclude that infection of R. prolixus with the T. cruzi Dm28c clone modifies the host gut immune responses to decrease the microbiota population and these changes are crucial for the parasite development in the insect gut