Designing New Business Schools

In the face of social problems of ever-increasing complexity, businesses have become interested in the thought process of designers, two important aspects of which focus on users and systems thinking. Business education, in turn , can benefit by adopting some of the concepts and methods designers learn. These include learning how to frame problems, conduct ethnographic research, reason abductivel y, synthesise information and collaborate in groups. Teaching methods need to be practically focused and reflective. As an example, a design course taught in an Austrian business school helped trans form students ’ perspectives

El diseño de nuevas escuelas de negocios

Ante unos problemas sociales de creciente complejidad, las empresas se han empezado a interesar por los procesos mentales de los diseñadores, dos de cuyos aspectos más importantes son la atención centrada en los usuarios y las ideas de sistemas. A su vez, los estudios empresariales pueden verse bene ficiados si adoptan algunos de los conceptos y métodos empleados por los diseñadores . Estos incluyen la manera de formular problemas, realizar estudios etnográ ficos , razonar abductivamente, sintetizar in formación y colaborar en grupo . Los métodos de enseñanza han de tener un en foque práctico y reflexivo. Sirva como ejemplo un curso de diseño impartido en una escuela de negocios austriaca, que ayudó a transformar la perspectiva de los estudiantes

Brief report: self-compassion, physical health and the mediating role of health-promoting behaviours

To test the hypothesis that self-compassion predicts better physical health and that this is partially mediated through health-promoting behaviours, 147 adults completed self-report measures of self-compassion, health-promoting behaviours and physical health. Self-compassion and health-promoting behaviours were negatively associated with physical symptom scores. Self-compassion was positively associated with health-promoting behaviours. A bootstrapped mediation model confirmed a significant direct effect of self-compassion on physical health through health-promoting behaviours (R(2) = 0.13, b = -8.98, p = 0.015), which was partially mediated through health-promoting behaviours (R(2) = 0.06, b = -3.16, 95 per cent confidence interval [-6.78, -0.86]). Findings underscore the potential health-promoting benefits of self-compassion.non

El disseny de noves escoles de negocis

Davant d'uns problemes socials de creixent complexitat, les empreses s'han començat a interessar pels processos i mètodes de pensament dels dissenyadors, dos dels aspectes més importants dels quals son l'atenció en els usuaris i el pensament de sistemes. Alhora, els estudis empresarials es poden beneficiar d'incorporar alguns dels conceptes i mètodes que aprenen els dissenyadors. Aquests inlcouen com formular els problemes, utilitzar la recerca etnogràfica, raonar abductivament, sintetitzar informació i col.laborar en grup. Els mètodes d'ensenyament han de tenir un enfocament pràctic i reflexiu. Com a exemple d'això, un curs de disseny impartit en una escola de negocis austríaca que va col.laborar a transformar la perspectiva dels estudiants

Rewards have a transient and task-specific effect on saccade latency and accuracy

The focus of this thesis was on investigating the key questions regarding the effectiveness of monetary rewards as a tool for behaviour change in rehabilitation. Firstly, do rewards consistently influence the eye movement behaviour in a neuro-typical human population? Secondly, do these effects persist once rewards are withdrawn? Finally, do these effects transfer to other unrewarded eye movement tasks? Nine experiments investigated the influence of monetary rewards on oculomotor function and attention in humans. Monetary rewards were found to consistently influence human saccadic behaviour such that faster eye movements were generated to rewarded locations compared to unrewarded locations. These effects persisted for a short period of time after rewards were withdrawn before extinguishing quickly. However, these hemifield-specific effects failed to transfer to any secondary unrewarded eye movement task, but instead produced a more general effect of reward in one experiment conducted. The present set of experiments have established a reward paradigm able to consistently produce behaviour change when rewards are present; however these effects were found to be context and task-specific. The findings of the present set of experiments have highlighted the transient nature of the effects of reward and provide a framework for the future use of monetary rewards as a tool for behaviour change. The findings provided by the present set of experiments can be harnessed in future to guide the effectiveness of monetary reinforcers in a neuro-atypical population

In League? Destination Marketing Organisations and Football Clubs in the Virtual Space

Logic dictates that Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs), while representing many stakeholders, should leverage a location’s most visible assets to enhance the attractiveness of the destination at any given opportunity. This study examines the manner and extent to which four major European football franchises are mentioned and promoted on the official digital marketing platforms of their respective cities; Amsterdam, Barcelona, Manchester and Munich. A tailor made content analysis tool is used to conduct a systematic investigation of the virtual platforms over which the DMOs of these cities exert a modicum of control. The content of these platforms is scrutinised from three perspectives; promotional, information dissemination or push towards purchase via external links. The four cities forming part of this study are home to some of the world’s most iconic global sporting brands. The research uncovers a level of confusion or simple lack of know-how on the part of DMOs as to how these hugely popular clubs can or should be exploited in the digital space. It proffers solutions to this dilemma as in initiating cooperative marketing efforts between the respective organisations and exposes a contemporary field that necessitates further research

Identification of Schistosoma mansoni gender-associated gene transcripts by cDNA microarray profiling.

BACKGROUND: Parasitic helminths of the genus Schistosoma mate, achieve sexual maturity and produce eggs in the bloodstream of their definitive hosts, and the most important pathological consequences of the infection are associated with this process. We have used cDNA microarray technology to initiate genome-wide gene-expression studies of sex and sexual development in mature Schistosoma mansoni parasites. RESULTS: An S. mansoni-specific cDNA microarray was fabricated using 576 expressed sequence tags selected from three cDNA libraries and originating from two different parasite developmental stages. Five independent cDNA microarray hybridizations were analyzed using stringent filtering criteria and careful quality control, leading to the identification of 12 new female-associated and 4 new male-associated gene transcripts in the mature adult schistosome. Statistical analysis of variation demonstrated high levels of agreement within a cDNA microarray (correlation coefficient 0.91; median coefficient of variation 11.1%) and between cDNA microarrays (correlation coefficient 0.90; median coefficient of variation 14.4%). RT-PCR analysis confirmed the cDNA microarray results, thereby supporting the reliability of the system. CONCLUSIONS: Our study expands the list of S. mansoni gender-associated gene transcripts from all previous studies by a factor of two. Among the new associations identified, a tyrosinase ortholog was preferentially expressed in the adult female, and a dynein light-chain ortholog was highly induced in the adult male. cDNA microarrays offer the potential for exponential leaps in the understanding of parasite biology and this study shows how molecules involved in sexual biology can be rapidly identified.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are