Egyptian stelae from Malta

In 1829, four Egyptian stelae of Twelfth and Eighteenth Dynasty date were found, surprisingly, on Malta. Based on their far-flung findspot, some have suggested that the stelae were locally made by Egyptian colonists who had settled on the island during the second millennium BC. This contribution argues that the stelae offer no basis for such historical reconstructions. Style, content and petrology demonstrate that all four stelae were made in Egypt and that they originally stood in the necropolis of Abydos in Upper Egypt. Microfossils show that these stelae are made of Egyptian limestones, which are of a different geological age to limestones available on Malta. The examination of polished thin sections of samples from the stelae using scanning electron microscopy suggests that the limestones employed were quarried from four geological formations of different ages in the Nile Valley.peer-reviewe

A New Class of Heavy-Tailed Distribution in GARCH Models for the Silver Returns

After serving as a medium of exchange for the human society, silver is still widely used in our daily life. From the jewellery, electronic and electrical industries as well as medicine, optics, the power industry, automotive industry and many other industries, silver is still playing a very active role. In addition to the industrial usage, silver also serves as an investment tool for many financial institutions. Thus, it is crucial to develop effective quantitative risk management tool for those financial institutions. In this paper, we investigate the conditional heavy tails of daily silver spot returns under the GARCH framework. Our results indicate that that it is important to introduce heavy-tailed distributions to the GARCH framework and the normal reciprocal inverse Gaussian (NRIG) distribution, a newly-developed distribution, has the best empirical performance in capture the daily silver spot returns dynamics

Heritable and environmental determinants of platelet response to acetylsalicylic acid/

Consistent levels of platelet inhibition are required to deliver effective antiplatelet therapy. Growing awareness that not all individuals respond comparably to aspirin has led to the concept of aspirin ‘resistance’ and prompted search for an means to confirm individual response. However, the term is misleading because there are many determinants of failure to respond to treatment. Aspirin’s primary pharmacological effect and that which is understood to prevent thrombosis is almost complete inactivation of platelet cyclooxygenase-1 and thereby inhibition of thromboxane biosynthesis. In this thesis I report findings from a study of patients with cardiovascular disease taking aspirin, in which I apply point-of-care and laboratory assays with varying specificity for cyclooxygenase inhibition. I demonstrate weak correlation between aspirin assays, some of which measure cyclooxygenase inhibition and others that detect platelet reactivity despite cyclooxygenase inactivation. I identify supernatant thromboxane generation as a sensitive assay of aspirin response. I also demonstrate that low dose enteric-coated aspirin preparations fail to deliver an adequate dose to many patients. Heritable factors determine platelet reactivity to a greater extent that environmental factors and largely determine residual activity in the presence of cyclooxygenase inhibition. I demonstrate that haplotypic variation in the cyclooxygenase-1 gene and a common splice variant in the gene that encodes the serotonin transporter modulate COX inhibition. I also identify a platelet G-protein (33 subunit splice variant that influences epinephrine-induced platelet activation via a non-COX dependent pathway. I demonstrate that the same variant increased bleeding in patients treated with the oral glycoprotein Ilb/IIIa antagonist orbofiban in the OPUS-TIMI 16 trial. Lastly I investigate the role of human growth arrest specific gene 6 in platelets. I take a molecular biology and in-silico analysis approach to characterising the gene and its transcriptional response elements. I also screen for genetic variants in its regulatory regions to assess their role in determining platelet reactivity

Moyamoya Disease with Peripheral Pulmonary Artery Stenoses and Coronary Artery Fistulae

Moyamoya is a progressive disorder of the cerebral vasculature. Our report describes a rare case of Moyamoya disease with distal peripheral pulmonary artery stenoses and coronary fistulae in a 12-year-old Caucasian female patient

Using a Multi-User Virtual Environment to Research Approaches to Ethical Dilemmas

Resolving ethical dilemmas is difficult because people must select a response from a range of unacceptable options. Ethical position theory states that people will select a response that is consistent with their perspectives on idealism and relativism. Ethical dilemmas are usually presented to learners and research participants in the form of written scenarios or vignettes. This approach has some limitations, including abstraction of the situation and written rather than enacted responses. Multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) present opportunities for contextualisation and action that may be applied to the simulation of ethical dilemmas. A theoretical framework based on activity theory and ecological psychology will be used to develop and refine a MUVE simulation of a morally toned situation. This paper outlines an ongoing research study that focuses on understanding (a) the possibilities and constraints of the technology in relation to the simulation of ethical issues; and (b) the extent to which the simulation can be used to assess the alignment between participants’ ethical perspectives and their behaviour

Servant leadership and work engagement: The mediating role of work-life balance

While the effect of leadership is established, the influence and process towards work engagement is under researched. This is particularly true of servant leadership, despite the links suggesting followers of such leaders are likely to be more engaged. The present study tests servant leadership towards the three dimensions of work engagement: (1) vigour, (2) dedication and (3) absorption. In addition, we test the role of work-life balance as a potential mediator, to test whether servant leadership builds work-life balance, which ultimately leads to higher work engagement. The present study is based on a sample of 123 New Zealand employees from a wide range of professions. Using structural equation modelling we test a number of path models to determine the best fit to the data, with the best fitting model being a full mediation model. Overall, we find strong support for servant leadership predicting work-life balance and the three work engagement dimensions. However, the influence of servant leadership is fully mediated by work-life balance. Ultimately work-life balance is positively related to all three work engagement dimensions and fully mediates the effect of servant leadership, highlighting the important role that work-life balance may play in achieving higher work engagement. The implications for human resource management (HRM) are discussed

Flying in the face of environmental concern: why green consumers continue to fly.

Some unsustainable consumer behaviours have proved extremely hard to change or even challenge. Despite the fact that flying can be more damaging than any other activity that an individual can undertake, many otherwise green consumers still choose to fly, offering an opportunity to elicit narratives about the differences between their attitudes and behaviours. Qualitative interview data were gathered from self-selected green consumers and set within a cognitive dissonance analytical framework. Four strategies were uncovered: not changing travel behaviour (but offering justifications related to travel product, travel context or personal identity); reducing or restricting flights; changing other behaviours to compensate for flying; and stopping flying. This analysis furthers research on green consumer rationales for (un)sustainable behaviours and suggests several avenues for sustainable marketing management

Handheld computers for data entry: high tech has its problems too

Background The use of handheld computers in medicine has increased in the last decade, they are now used in a variety of clinical settings. There is an underlying assumption that electronic data capture is more accurate that paper-based data methods have been rarely tested. This report documents a study to compare the accuracy of hand held computer data capture versus more traditional paper-based methods. Methods Clinical nurses involved in a randomised controlled trial collected patient information on a hand held computer in parallel with a paper-based data form. Both sets of data were entered into an access database and the hand held computer data compared to the paper-based data for discrepancies. Results Error rates from the handheld computers were 67.5 error per 1000 fields, compared to the accepted error rate of 10 per 10,000 field for paper-based double data entry. Error rates were highest in field containing a default value. Conclusion While popular with staff, unacceptable high error rates occurred with hand held computers. Training and ongoing monitoring are needed if hand held computers are to be used for clinical data collection

Heavy-tailed distribution, GARCH models and the silver returns

After serving as a medium of exchange for the human society, silver is still widely used in our daily life. From the jewellery, electronic and electrical industries as well as medicine, optics, the power industry, automotive industry and many other industries, silver is still playing a very active role. In addition to the industrial usage, silver also serves as an investment tool for many financial institutions. Thus, it is crucial to develop effective quantitative risk management tool for those financial institutions. In this paper, we investigate the conditional heavy tails of daily silver spot returns under the GARCH framework. Our results indicate that that it is important to introduce heavy-tailed distributions to the GARCH framework and the normal reciprocal inverse Gaussian (NRIG) distribution, a newly-developed distribution, has the best empirical performance in capture the daily silver spot returns dynamics.peer-reviewe