Discovering Indigenous Grantmakers in Central Europe

Compiled by Joerg Forbrig, Programme Officer and Pavol Demes, Director for Central and Eastern Europe, of the German Marshall Fund in the US, this article is based on a presentation delivered to the annual meeting of the Grantmakers East Group in Sofia, Bulgaria, in October 2004. Presenting the preliminary results of research carried out on home-grown grantmakers funding civic initiatives in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, it demonstrates why indigenous grantmakers can be considered a potential source of funding, after the departure of foreign grantmakers from this area

The highs and lows of a cultural transition: A longitudinal analysis of sojourner stress and adaptation across 50 countries.

The impact of living abroad is a topic that has intrigued researchers for almost a century, if not longer. While many acculturation phenomena have been studied over this time, the development of new research methods and statistical software in recent years means that these can be revisited and examined in a more rigorous manner. In the present study we were able to follow approximately 2,500 intercultural exchange students situated in over 50 different countries worldwide, over time both before and during their travel using online surveys. Advanced statistical analyses were employed to examine the course of sojourners stress and adjustment over time, its antecedents and consequences. By comparing a sojourner sample with a control group of nonsojourning peers we were able to highlight the uniqueness of the sojourn experience in terms of stress variability over time. Using Latent Class Growth Analysis to examine the nature of this variability revealed 5 distinct patterns of change in stress experienced by sojourners over the course of their exchange: a reverse J-curve, inverse U-curve, mild stress, minor relief, and resilience pattern. Antecedent explanatory variables for stress variability were examined using both variable-centered and person-centered analyses and evidence for the role of personality, empathy, cultural adaptation, and coping strategies was found in each case. Lastly, we examined the relationship between stress abroad with behavioral indicators of (mal)adjustment: number of family changes and early termination of the exchange program

Comparing Neanderthal and Modern Human Long Bone Loading History from Cross-Sectional Geometry

We evaluate here efforts to compare archaic and modern human limb loading from long bone cross sectional. Recent studies find that cross sectional properties (I, J, Z) calculated from second moments of area (SMA) are similar in Neanderthals and early modern humans when adjusted for body mass and limb length, but differ in cross-sectional shape (e.g., Ix/Iy). These results suggest the two taxa had similar magnitudes but different patterns of locomotor loading. Such interpretations, however, assume that long bones are deformed like long, straight beams in pure bening, with neutral axes (NA) that run through the cross-sectional area centroids. We test this assumption experimentally using exercised sheep with rosette strain gauges mounted at three locations around the midshaft of the tibia and metatarsal. Calculation of normal strain distributions at the midshaft indicate that the NA does not run through the area centroid, largely because of the combined effects of bending and compression. In addition, orientation of the centroidal axes around which maximum SMAs (Imax) are calculated are unrelated to the planes in which the bines bend. Because SMAs are fourth-power functions, cross-sectional properties that assume the NA runs through the area centroid yield substantial errors in magnitude (up to 100%) compared to cross-sectional properties calculated around experimentally-determined NAs. The polar moment of area, J, is least subject to error. Applying these analyses to the hominoid fossil record indicates that SMAs neither support nor refute the hypothesis that Neanderthals and early modern humans had different magnitudes or patterns of loading.AnthropologyHuman Evolutionary Biolog

Exercise-Induced Bone Formation Is Poorly Linked to Local Strain Magnitude in the Sheep Tibia

Functional interpretations of limb bone structure frequently assume that diaphyses adjust their shape by adding bone primarily across the plane in which they are habitually loaded in order to minimize loading-induced strains. Here, to test this hypothesis, we characterize the in vivo strain environment of the sheep tibial midshaft during treadmill exercise and examine whether this activity promotes bone formation disproportionately in the direction of loading in diaphyseal regions that experience the highest strains. It is shown that during treadmill exercise, sheep tibiae were bent in an anteroposterior direction, generating maximal tensile and compressive strains on the anterior and posterior shaft surfaces, respectively. Exercise led to significantly increased periosteal bone formation; however, rather than being biased toward areas of maximal strains across the anteroposterior axis, exercise-related osteogenesis occurred primarily around the medial half of the shaft circumference, in both high and low strain regions. Overall, the results of this study demonstrate that loading-induced bone growth is not closely linked to local strain magnitude in every instance. Therefore, caution is necessary when bone shaft shape is used to infer functional loading history in the absence of in vivo data on how bones are loaded and how they actually respond to loading

The Effects of Performance Management Practices on Academic Staff’ Job Satisfaction in Some Selected Ethiopian Public and Private Universities

Universities are playing a vital role in developing human capital, economic growth and development of countries. Universities need to implement the PM system to motivate and improve the performance of individuals and align individual goals and objectives with department, college and university strategic goals to improve the overall performance of the university. The study aimed to investigate the practices of performance management dimensions and their effects on academic staff’ job satisfaction in some selected Ethiopian public and private universities. The study used a mixed research approach and descriptive, explanatory and comparative research designs were used. Data was collected via a questionnaire. The questionnaire respondents were 307 academic staffs from three public universities and two private universities. Quantitative data was analyzed using inferential statistics (independent sampled t-test, Pearson correlation, and hierarchical multiple regression) using SPSS version 25. The Pearson correlation analysis finding showed that performance management dimensions had the positive correlation with academic staff job satisfaction. The finding indicated the effect of each PM dimensions on the job satisfaction of academic staff. The finding also indicated the comparison of the value of R2 for public and private universities. This study concluded that job satisfaction of academic staff was achieved by their performance directly from the practices of the performance management dimensions. The findings indicated the contribution of each performance management dimension and their effect on job satisfaction. Managing these factors could be beneficial for university management (presidents, college directors, and department heads) and academic staff. KeyTerms: Job Satisfaction, Job satisfaction measures, Performance management, Performance management dimensions, Public University, and Private University DOI: 10.7176/JESD/13-19-05 Publication date:October 31st 202

Hand and foot pressures in the aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) reveal novel biomechanical trade-offs required for walking on gracile digits

Arboreal animals with prehensile hands must balance the complex demands of bone strength, grasping and manipulation. An informative example of this problem is that of the aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis), a rare lemuriform primate that is unusual in having exceptionally long, gracile fingers specialized for foraging. In addition, they are among the largest primates to engage in head-first descent on arboreal supports, a posture that should increase loads on their gracile digits. We test the hypothesis that aye-ayes will reduce pressure on their digits during locomotion by curling their fingers off the substrate. This hypothesis was tested using simultaneous videographic and pressure analysis of the hand, foot and digits for five adult aye-ayes during horizontal locomotion and during ascent and descent on a 30 degrees instrumented runway. Aye-ayes consistently curled their fingers during locomotion on all slopes. When the digits were in contact with the substrate, pressures were negligible and significantly less than those experienced by the palm or pedal digits. In addition, aye-ayes lifted their hands vertically off the substrate instead of 'toeing-off' and descended head-first at significantly slower speeds than on other slopes. Pressure on the hand increased during head-first descent relative to horizontal locomotion but not as much as the pressure increased on the foot during ascent. This distribution of pressure suggests that aye-ayes shift their weight posteriorly during head-first descent to reduce loads on their gracile fingers. This research demonstrates several novel biomechanical trade-offs to deal with complex functional demands on the mammalian skeleton

Open Alex

Research organizations of all shapes and sizes need information on the research activities at their institutions and other institutions around the world to effectively plan, implement, and evaluate their research strategies. Historically, that information was only accessible through closed commercial licenses. This session will introduce OpenAlex, the most comprehensive and only completely open index of the world’s research ecosystem. The presentation will first provide an overview of OpenAlex, highlighting the importance of openness and transparency in research analytics, and will walk-through how to perform common research analyses in OpenAlex

Cancellous bone and theropod dinosaur locomotion. Part I—an examination of cancellous bone architecture in the hindlimb bones of theropods

This paper is the first of a three-part series that investigates the architecture of cancellous (‘spongy’) bone in the main hindlimb bones of theropod dinosaurs, and uses cancellous bone architectural patterns to infer locomotor biomechanics in extinct non-avian species. Cancellous bone is widely known to be highly sensitive to its mechanical environment, and has previously been used to infer locomotor biomechanics in extinct tetrapod vertebrates, especially primates. Despite great promise, cancellous bone architecture has remained little utilized for investigating locomotion in many other extinct vertebrate groups, such as dinosaurs. Documentation and quantification of architectural patterns across a whole bone, and across multiple bones, can provide much information on cancellous bone architectural patterns and variation across species. Additionally, this also lends itself to analysis of the musculoskeletal biomechanical factors involved in a direct, mechanistic fashion. On this premise, computed tomographic and image analysis techniques were used to describe and analyse the three-dimensional architecture of cancellous bone in the main hindlimb bones of theropod dinosaurs for the first time. A comprehensive survey across many extant and extinct species is produced, identifying several patterns of similarity and contrast between groups. For instance, more stemward non-avian theropods (e.g. ceratosaurs and tyrannosaurids) exhibit cancellous bone architectures more comparable to that present in humans, whereas species more closely related to birds (e.g. paravians) exhibit architectural patterns bearing greater similarity to those of extant birds. Many of the observed patterns may be linked to particular aspects of locomotor biomechanics, such as the degree of hip or knee flexion during stance and gait. A further important observation is the abundance of markedly oblique trabeculae in the diaphyses of the femur and tibia of birds, which in large species produces spiralling patterns along the endosteal surface. Not only do these observations provide new insight into theropod anatomy and behaviour, they also provide the foundation for mechanistic testing of locomotor hypotheses via musculoskeletal biomechanical modelling

The effect of varying jaw-elevator muscle forces on a finite element model of a human cranium

Finite element analyses simulating masticatory system loading are increasingly undertaken in primates, hominin fossils and modern humans. Simplifications of models and loadcases are often required given the limits of data and technology. One such area of uncertainty concerns the forces applied to cranial models and their sensitivity to variations in these forces. We assessed the effect of varying force magnitudes among jaw-elevator muscles applied to a finite element model of a human cranium. The model was loaded to simulate incisor and molar bites using different combinations of muscle forces. Symmetric, asymmetric, homogeneous and heterogeneous muscle activations were simulated by scaling maximal forces. The effects were compared with respect to strain distribution (i.e. modes of deformation) and magnitudes; bite forces and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) reaction forces. Predicted modes of deformation, strain magnitudes and bite forces were directly proportional to total applied muscle force and relatively insensitive to the degree of heterogeneity of muscle activation. However, TMJ reaction forces and mandibular fossa strains decrease and increase on the balancing and working sides according to the degree of asymmetry of loading. These results indicate that when modes, rather than magnitudes, of facial deformation are of interest, errors in applied muscle forces have limited effects. However the degree of asymmetric loading does impact on TMJ reaction forces and mandibular fossa strains. These findings are of particular interest in relation to studies of skeletal and fossil material, where muscle data are not available and estimation of muscle forces from skeletal proxies is prone to error. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved