Dynamics of Seachangers in rural and regional townships

The seachange phenomenon has recently returned to the policy and planning agenda in Australia owing to some recent data showing new movement patterns out of capital cities. This chapter presents a discussion around this via review of the literature in the areas of amenity migration, counter-urbanisation and lifestyle migration. It further proposes, through demographic research into the region of Gippsland in Victoria, that we need to begin to better understand the motivations for shifting away from the capital cities and the flow on impacts in local communities. Among these impacts are coastal populations in various stages of flux, transforming communities based on local, familiar ties and an enduring relationship to place with new residents from far and wide. As these communities and places are ‘opened up’ through permanent, semi-permanent and visitor populations, more work is required to understand the local place as one that is increasingly inclusive of converging mobile lives, driving communities in transition and renegotiations of identity, belonging and security

Caloric restriction in C57BL/6J mice mimics therapeutic fasting in humans

BACKGROUND: Caloric restriction (CR) has long been recognized as a dietary therapy that improves health and increases longevity. Little is known about the persistent effects of CR on plasma biomarkers (glucose, ketone bodies, and lipids) following re-feeding in mice. It is also unclear how these biomarker changes in calorically restricted mice relate to those observed previously in calorically restricted humans. RESULTS: Three groups of individually housed adult female C57BL/6J (B6) mice (n = 4/group) were fed a standard rodent chow diet either: (1) unrestricted (UR); (2) restricted for three weeks to reduce body weight by approximately 15–20% (R); or (3) restricted for three weeks and then re-fed unrestricted (ad libitum) for an additional three weeks (R-RF). Body weight and food intake were measured throughout the study, while plasma lipids and levels of glucose and ketone bodies (β-hydroxybutyrate) were measured at the termination of the study. Plasma glucose, phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol, and triglycerides were significantly lower in the R mice than in the UR mice. In contrast, plasma fatty acids and β-hydroxybutyrate were significantly higher in the R mice than in the UR mice. CR had no effect on plasma phosphatidylinositol levels. While body weight and plasma lipids of the R-RF mice returned to unrestricted levels upon re-feeding, food intake and glucose levels remained significantly lower than those prior to the initiation of CR. CONCLUSION: CR establishes a new homeostatic state in B6 mice that persists for at least three weeks following ad libitum re-feeding. Moreover, the plasma biomarker changes observed in B6 mice during CR mimic those reported in humans on very low calorie diets or during therapeutic fasting

Attitudes Toward a Presumed Consent Organ Donation System

Purpose: Obtaining consent for post-mortem organ donation is a complicated process, and the current system for obtaining consent has not been very effective in procuring sufficient transplantable organs for the current demand. A streamlined method of organ procurement, such as presumed consent, is needed to simplify this process and increase the number of available organs for donation. The purpose of this descriptive study was to evaluate the public\u27s attitudes toward a presumed consent system of organ donation. Methods: A convenience sample of275 adults, aged 18 years or older, was recruited from public establishments in California. Subjects were required to understand, speak, read, and write English fluently. Data was obtained using a survey that consisted of statements regarding various aspects of presumed consent, in particular, and organ donation, in general, using a 5-point Likert scale, with 1 =Strongly Agree and 5=Strongly Disagree. The survey also included questions about the subject\u27s age, income level, gender, educational background, race/ethnicity, and religious and political affiliation. Results: We found significant differences regarding the opinions toward presumed consent and organ donation based on race, gender, religious affiliation, and political affiliation (p\u3c.05). Blacks/ African Americans were most likely to be against presumed consent (X2=17.4, p=.002) and organ donation (x_2=47.4, p\u3c.001) after death as compared to other races. Income level was also a contributing factor, though its effect on opinion was not statistically significant. Conclusion: These findings can help increase public awareness of the issues of presumed consent and organ donation, and indicate the need for public education on the subject of organ donation

A new approach to generating research-quality data through citizen science: The USA National Phenology Monitoring System

Phenology is one of the most sensitive biological responses to climate change, and recent changes in phenology have the potential to shake up ecosystems. In some cases, it appears they already are. Thus, for ecological reasons it is critical that we improve our understanding of species’ phenologies and how these phenologies are responding to recent, rapid climate change. Phenological events like flowering and bird migrations are easy to observe, culturally important, and, at a fundamental level, naturally inspire human curiosity— thus providing an excellent opportunity to engage citizen scientists. The USA National Phenology Network has recently initiated a national effort to encourage people at different levels of expertise—from backyard naturalists to professional scientists—to observe phenological events and contribute to a national database that will be used to greatly improve our understanding of spatio-temporal variation in phenology and associated phenological responses to climate change.

Traditional phenological observation protocols identify specific dates at which individual phenological events are observed. The scientific usefulness of long-term phenological observations could be improved with a more carefully structured protocol. At the USA-NPN we have developed a new approach that directs observers to record each day that they observe an individual plant, and to assess and report the state of specific life stages (or phenophases) as occurring or not occurring on that plant for each observation date. Evaluation is phrased in terms of simple, easy-to-understand, questions (e.g. “Do you see open flowers?”), which makes it very appropriate for a citizen science audience. From this method, a rich dataset of phenological metrics can be extracted, including the duration of a phenophase (e.g. open flowers), the beginning and end points of a phenophase (e.g. traditional phenological events such as first flower and last flower), multiple distinct occurrences of phenophases within a single growing season (e.g multiple flowering events, common in drought-prone regions), as well as quantification of sampling frequency and observational uncertainties. These features greatly enhance the utility of the resulting data for statistical analyses addressing questions such as how phenological events vary in time and space, and in response to global change. This new protocol is an important step forward, and its widespread adoption will increase the scientific value of data collected by citizen scientists.
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Values in Psychometrics

When it originated in the late 19th century, psychometrics was a field with both a scientific and a social mission: psychometrics provided new methods for research into individual differences, and at the same time, these psychometric instruments were considered a means to create a new social order. In contrast, contemporary psychometrics - due to its highly technical nature and its limited involvement in substantive psychological research - has created the impression of being a value-free discipline. In this article, we develop a contrasting characterization of contemporary psychometrics as a value-laden discipline. We expose four such values: that individual differences are quantitative (rather than qualitative), that measurement should be objective in a specific sense, that test items should be fair, and that utility of a model is more important than its truth. Our goal is not to criticize psychometrics for employing these values, but rather to bring them into the open and to show that these values are not inevitable and are in need of systematic evaluation

Integrasi SWOT, Balanced Scorecard, dan QFD Sebagai Alternatif Pengukuran Kinerja Perbankan

Pengukuran kinerja bank di Indonesia selama ini dilakukan berdasarkan peraturan yang ditetapkan oleh Bank Indonesia dimana kriteria pengukuran lebih difokuskan pada aspek finansial seperti capital, asset quality, management, earning and liquidity (CAMEL). Namun dalam prakteknya kinerja bank juga dipengaruhi oleh aspek-aspek non finansial seperti perilaku karyawan. kemampuan karyawan, kepuasan nasabah, serta fasilitas-fasilitas lain yang disediakan bank. Penelitian ini mencoba untuk mengaplikasikan pengukuran kinerja dengan konsep Balanced Scorecard yang mencakup financial, customer, internal business process dan learning and growth perspective. Penentuan kriteria untuk setiap perspektif dilakukan dengan metode SWOT. Tolok ukur pada financial perspective adalah Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), Kualitas Aktiva Produktif (KAP), Pemenuhan Pembentukan Penyisihan Aktiva Produktif (PPAP). Return On Asset (ROA), Beban Operasional terhadap Pendapatan Operasional (BOPO), Net call money (NCM), Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR). Tolok ukur pada customer perspective adalah kenaikan tabungan, kenaikan giro, kenaikan deposito,kenaikan kredit, Percent of New customer simpanan dan kredit serta jumlah komplain. Tolok ukur pada internal business process perspective adalah Non Performing Loans (NPL), rata-rata lama proses kredit, kecepatan pelayanan teller, tingkat kebobolan, peningkatan jumlah cabang, dan peningkatan jaringan on-line. Tolok ukur pada learning and growth perspective adalah employee turnover, tingkat absensi, dan jumlah training. Selanjutnya inisiatif perbaikan disusun dengan menggunakan metode Quality Function Deployment (QFD)

Nalfurafine Reduces Neuroinflammation and Drives Remyelination in Models of CNS Demyelinating Disease

Objectives: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterised by inflammation and damage to the myelin sheath, resulting in physical and cognitive disability. There is currently no cure for MS, and finding effective treatments to prevent disease progression has been challenging. Recent evidence suggests that activating kappa opioid receptors (KOR) has a beneficial effect on the progression of MS. Although many KOR agonists like U50,488 are not suitable for clinical use because of a poor side-effect profile, nalfurafine is a potent, clinically used KOR agonist with a favorable side-effect profile. Methods: Using the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model, the effect of therapeutically administered nalfurafine or U50,488 on remyelination, CNS infiltration and peripheral immune responses were compared. Additionally, the cuprizone model was used to compare the effects on non-immune demyelination. Results: Nalfurafine enabled recovery and remyelination during EAE. Additionally, it was more effective than U50,488 and promoted disease reduction when administered after chronic demyelination. Blocking KOR with the antagonist, nor‐BNI, impaired full recovery by nalfurafine, indicating that nalfurafine mediates recovery from EAE in a KOR‐dependent fashion. Furthermore, nalfurafine treatment reduced CNS infiltration (especially CD4+ and CD8+ T cells) and promoted a more immunoregulatory environment by decreasing Th17 responses. Finally, nalfurafine was able to promote remyelination in the cuprizone demyelination model, supporting the direct effect on remyelination in the absence of peripheral immune cell invasion. Conclusions: Overall, our findings support the potential of nalfurafine to promote recovery and remyelination and highlight its promise for clinical use in MS

A Local Superlens

Superlenses enable near-field imaging beyond the optical diffraction limit. However, their widespread implementation in optical imaging technology so far has been limited by large-scale fabrication, fixed lens position, and specific object materials. Here we demonstrate that a dielectric lamella of subwavelength size in all three spatial dimensions behaves as a compact superlens that operates at infrared wavelengths and can be positioned to image any local microscopic area of interest on the sample. In particular, the lamella superlens may be placed in contact with any type of object and therefore enables examination of hard-to-scan samples, for example, with high topography or in liquids, without altering the specimen design. This lamella-based local superlens design is directly applicable to subwavelength light-based technology, such as integrated optics