Phenotype, Scientific Racism and Colonialism: the reintroduction of colonial categories of race in tribunal proceedings within Brazil

The abstract uploaded considers the implementation model of affirmative action in Brazil. This abstract has been used to develop a working paper, however arguments raised in this paper have additionally been delivered by way of a presentation. This working paper considers how adequate the current model of affirmative action in Brazil is in order to create substantive equality for Afro-Brazilians. The paper starts by considering the watershed allegations raised against Brazil in the 2001 UN Durban Conference, in which the claims of Brazil being a racial democracy were roundly debunked. Following the UN Conference, Brazil for the past two decades has attempted to develop a sufficient reparations model by way of affirmative action in order to ensure that its Afro Brazilian populous had adequate education, housing and job opportunities. Nevertheless, as this working paper argues, this current model of affirmative action may pose rights violations for Afro-Brazilians with intersectional identities. Thus, this paper argues for a broad intersectional framework for affirmative action in Brazil. This research can be engaged with by way of a workshop or roundtable segment

Comparison of Odonata Populations in Natural and Constructed Emergent Wetlands in the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky

With the degradation and destruction of many natural wetlands in Kentucky, there are high incentives to look at the remaining natural wetlands and the new artificial wetlands that are beginning to become prevalent among biologists. Wetlands are important to dragonfly populations just as dragonflies are vital to wetland function. In my study I looked at the fluctuation in Odonata (dragonfly and damselfly) populations at ten artificial wetlands and ten natural wetlands in the Inner Bluegrass region of Kentucky. In my study the dragonfly populations were monitored based on Shannon and Simpson\u27s diversity, Species richness, and number of individual and species numbers. The wetlands were also compared on a season to season basis and the health of the wetlands were considered using a rapid assessment method. My research found that the artificial wetlands, though they scored low on the rapid assessment method, scored high in all categories except for species richness in the fall season of data collection. This study can be important in discovering the differences between natural and artificial wetlands, since Odonates are such an important biological indicator of wetland health and function. This could be vital in increasing the health of remaining natural wetlands and new artificial wetlands that are being created to supplement the lack of many of Kentucky\u27s natural wetlands

Parents’ experiences of neonatal care in England

With the greater need for specialist neonatal care in England over the last decade, increased attention has been given to developing and implementing quality measures to ensure that babies and their families receive the highest quality care. Patient experience is recognised as a key measure of quality, therefore it is essential to assess parents’ experiences of neonatal services to understand how these can be improved. In this paper we detail findings from the second large scale survey of parents’ experiences of neonatal care carried out in England in 2014, focusing on results that highlight aspects of family-centred care: information sharing; communication; support; and involvement. The results reveal great variations between individual units, as well as highlight key areas in which units could improve to provide family-centred care. This includes parents being able to speak to their doctor more, as well as receiving important information to understand their baby’s condition, and about support services available. Positively, many parents felt they were able to visit their baby as much as they wanted and were involved in their day-to-day care, which are fundamental to parents forming a bond with their baby. The survey is a rich data source that provides neonatal units in England with results that allow them to focus improvement efforts on what matters most to those using their services. It also enables neonatal units to evaluate how they are performing on key standards of care, supporting them in striving for clinical best practice

The Strategic Management for Sustainable Agro- tourism Development: A Case Study of Maejo Universitys Agro- tourism Learning Centers

Abstract. This study determines the nature of the relationship between strategic management and the organizational performance, the relationship between service quality and visitor satisfaction in the agrotourism sector. The study employed the modified SERVQUAL instrument that was distributed using a convenience sample technique to visitors of Maejo University’s Learning Centers to determine their perceptions of service quality and satisfaction. While a structured strategic management questionnaire was administered to, 25 employees purposively selected as respondents of the learning centers. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to discover the underlying attribute of services and correlation analysis as well as descriptive analysis to analyze the data collected. The results showed that strategic management had significant effects on the operational performance of the learning centers. This proved that there is a strong and positive relationship between strategic management practices and the learning center’s operational performance (F=53.690, p<0.05). In addition, it showed that there was a significant and positive relationship between strategic management and the learning center’s ability to compete and satisfy tourists (r=.844, p<0.05). Moreover, results indicated that the 7 attributes were significant that included responsiveness, tangibility, reliability, empathy, tangible sustainability, assurance, and sustainable practices. These 7 attributes positively influence the perceptions of service quality, tourist’s satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. This study concluded that the practice of strategic management is positively related to boosting the learning centers performance and would eventually resonate to visitor satisfaction and behavioral intentions

Towards detection of structurally-diverse glycated epitopes in native proteins : single-chain antibody directed to non-A1c epitope in human haemoglobin

Over 500 million people worldwide are affected by diabetes mellitus, a chronic disease that leads to high blood glucose levels and causes severe side effects. The predominant biological marker for diagnosis of diabetes is glycated haemoglobin (GHb). In human blood the predominant reducing sugar, glucose, irreversibly conjugates onto accessible amine groups within Hb. Most methods for diagnosis and monitoring of diabetes selectively detect N-terminal glycation at Val-1 on the β-globin chain, but not glycation at other sites. Detection of other glycated epitopes of GHb has the potential to provide new information on the extent, duration and timing of elevated glucose, facilitating personalised diagnosis and intelligent diabetic control. In this work, a new anti-GHb Fab antibody (Fab-1) specific for haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) with nanomolar affinity was discovered via epitope-directed immunisation and phage display. A single chain variable fragment (scFv) antibody derived from Fab-1 retained affinity and specificity for HbA1c, and affinity was enhanced tenfold upon addition of an enhanced green fluorescent protein tag. Both the scFv and Fab-1 recognised an epitope within HbA1c that was distinct from β-Val-1, and our data suggest that this epitope may include glycation at Lys-66 in the β-globin chain. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an scFv/Fab anti-glycated epitope antibody that recognises a non-A1c epitope in GHb, and confirms that fructosamine attached to different, discrete glycation sites within the same protein can be resolved from one another by immunoassay. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.