Where is your Office Today? New insights on Employee Behaviour and Social Networks

This is the second of two reports sharing key findings and suggestions for how to approach the challenge of adapting organisations to hybrid and more flexible ways of working. This report focuses on the impact that different work patterns and workplaces have on employees (wellbeing, job satisfaction, performance, interactions), and what this means for organisations and future workplaces. Findings from analysis of employee diaries, surveys and social network analysis are shared. Differences between groups of workers (e.g. new starters, different generations) under different work patterns (e.g. office vs home vs hybrid) and in different office workspaces (e.g. open plan vs social spaces vs private workspaces) are examined. The research data is presented to help managers take evidence based decisions about their work polices and workplaces. Practical guides are included to help both managers and employees understand how they can apply social network principles to support career development, productivity and knowledge sharing. The report concludes with a reflection on the opportunities that the future workplace presents, and ideas for how to implement viable hybrid working

Rescue of replication failure by Fanconi anaemia proteins

Chromosomal aberrations are often associated with incomplete genome duplication, for instance at common fragile sites, or as a consequence of chemical alterations in the DNA template that block replication forks. Studies of the cancer-prone disease Fanconi anaemia (FA) have provided important insights into the resolution of replication problems. The repair of interstrand DNA crosslinks induced by chemotherapy drugs is coupled with DNA replication and controlled by FA proteins. We discuss here the recent discovery of new FA-associated proteins and the development of new tractable repair systems that have dramatically improved our understanding of crosslink repair. We focus also on how FA proteins protect against replication failure in the context of fragile sites and on the identification of reactive metabolites that account for the development of Fanconi anaemia symptoms

The supernatural characters and powers of sacred trees in the Holy Land

This article surveys the beliefs concerning the supernatural characteristics and powers of sacred trees in Israel; it is based on a field study as well as a survey of the literature and includes 118 interviews with Muslims and Druze. Both the Muslims and Druze in this study attribute supernatural dimensions to sacred trees which are directly related to ancient, deep-rooted pagan traditions. The Muslims attribute similar divine powers to sacred trees as they do to the graves of their saints; the graves and the trees are both considered to be the abode of the soul of a saint which is the source of their miraculous powers. Any violation of a sacred tree would be strictly punished while leaving the opportunity for atonement and forgiveness. The Druze, who believe in the transmigration of souls, have similar traditions concerning sacred trees but with a different religious background. In polytheistic religions the sacred grove/forest is a centre of the community's official worship; any violation of the trees is regarded as a threat to the well being of the community. Punishments may thus be collective. In the monotheistic world (including Christianity, Islam and Druze) the pagan worship of trees was converted into the worship/adoration of saints/prophets; it is not a part of the official religion but rather a personal act and the punishments are exerted only on the violating individual