Francis West – leadership and being first aren’t the same things: an assessment of the UK national action plan on business and human rights

For at least 30 years, the microfinance movement sought to provide credit in settings where strong constraints meant traditional banking methods weren’t feasible

Reflections on the Military Organization

It is almost a truism to observe that the American public is ambivalent in its feelings toward the U.S. military as an organization. On the one hand, within the strong American tradition of politi­cal liberalism the military symbolizes state control and the loss of personal freedom, On the other hand, the mili­tary exists to defend freedom, as in World War II. It is clear that the public in general regards the military as more than just a necessary evil. While the military does exhibit instances of bun­gling, waste, arrogance, and irrespon­sibility 1 it also sets national examples of courage, asceticism, selflessness, and devotion to duty

Physical Activity Message Framing and Ethnicity Before and During COVID-19

People of Black ethnicities are well known to be disproportionately burdened by coronavirus and have poorer health outcomes. Public health messages encouraged physical activity during the pandemic as it is evidenced to positively affect the immune system, however people of Black ethnicities are often reported as failing to achieve the recommended daily amount. Health message framing during COVID-19 specifically in relation to ethnicity and physical activity motivation has yet to be investigated. Two studies examined message frame effect on physical activity motivation prior to and at the onset of the pandemic and how this differed by ethnicity. Gain framed messages were found to positively affect physical activity motivation pre-COVID-19 and during the pandemic fear framed messages were found to positively affect physical activity motivation. Neither of these effects differed by ethnicity. Implications for future physical activity health message framing are discussed

Teaching Ethics To Undergraduates: An Examination Of Contextual Approaches

Our purpose was to advance the current academic discussion on how to most effectively teach managerial ethics at the undergraduate level.  We argued that undergraduate ethics education should be comprehensive, multi-dimensional and woven into the fabric of each student’s experience.  In particular, we hypothesized that the inclusion of service-learning experiences and a rigorous honor system would lead to better identification and resolution of ethical dilemmas.  A survey of 304 undergraduates from four colleges and universities yielded modest support for our hypotheses.  In conclusion, we discuss possible explanations for the results and avenues for future studies.&nbsp

Democratic leadership: a charming solution for nursing’s legitimacy crisis

Editorial regarding democratic leadership for nursing

A 2-dimensional Geometry for Biological Time

This paper proposes an abstract mathematical frame for describing some features of biological time. The key point is that usual physical (linear) representation of time is insufficient, in our view, for the understanding key phenomena of life, such as rhythms, both physical (circadian, seasonal ...) and properly biological (heart beating, respiration, metabolic ...). In particular, the role of biological rhythms do not seem to have any counterpart in mathematical formalization of physical clocks, which are based on frequencies along the usual (possibly thermodynamical, thus oriented) time. We then suggest a functional representation of biological time by a 2-dimensional manifold as a mathematical frame for accommodating autonomous biological rhythms. The "visual" representation of rhythms so obtained, in particular heart beatings, will provide, by a few examples, hints towards possible applications of our approach to the understanding of interspecific differences or intraspecific pathologies. The 3-dimensional embedding space, needed for purely mathematical reasons, allows to introduce a suitable extra-dimension for "representation time", with a cognitive significance.Comment: Presented in an invited Lecture, conference "Biologie e selezioni naturali", Florence, December 4-8, 200

Making and shaping endochondral and intramembranous bones

Skeletal elements have a diverse range of shapes and sizes specialized to their various roles including protecting internal organs, locomotion, feeding, hearing, and vocalization. The precise positioning, size, and shape of skeletal elements is therefore critical for their function. During embryonic development, bone forms by endochondral or intramembranous ossification and can arise from the paraxial and lateral plate mesoderm or neural crest. This review describes inductive mechanisms to position and pattern bones within the developing embryo, compares and contrasts the intrinsic vs extrinsic mechanisms of endochondral and intramembranous skeletal development, and details known cellular processes that precisely determine skeletal shape and size. Key cellular mechanisms are employed at distinct stages of ossification, many of which occur in response to mechanical cues (eg, joint formation) or preempting future load‐bearing requirements. Rapid shape changes occur during cellular condensation and template establishment. Specialized cellular behaviors, such as chondrocyte hypertrophy in endochondral bone and secondary cartilage on intramembranous bones, also dramatically change template shape. Once ossification is complete, bone shape undergoes functional adaptation through (re)modeling. We also highlight how alterations in these cellular processes contribute to evolutionary change and how differences in the embryonic origin of bones can influence postnatal bone repair

Using The Major Field Test-Business As An Assessment Tool And Impetus For Program Improvement: Fifteen Years Of Experience At Virginia Military Institute

We examine the history of VMI’s use of the Major Field Test as an assessment tool for its Department of Economics and Business.  Further, we chronicle how the information gathered from a decade and a half of use has shaped the curriculum, faculty composition and policies within the Department. There is evidence that the policies surrounding how and when the Major Field Test is administered influences student performance on the test and that it can be a valuable component of a comprehensive assessment program. &nbsp