The Ohio Foreign Language Association Public Relations & Advocacy Committee

https://fuse.franklin.edu/ss2018/1059/thumbnail.jp

The Mechanics of Dragons: An Introduction to The Study of their \u27Ologies

Dragons are found throughout the history of most civilisations, yet we appear to know little about them. This paper will present a (tongue-in-cheek) introductory analysis of dragons and their place in society, suggesting that perhaps they are not necessarily the terrible and evil creatures they are sometimes portrayed to be . .

Cultural Changes Resulting from Information System Adoption and Use: A Case Study on New Product Development in the Consumer Food Industry

This paper explores how managers acted as internal and external change agents to persuade the digital transformation and organizational culture through the different stages of food product innovation and development for consumer food products. A case study approach was adopted to collect rich data cataloging the cultural changes in the firm in their progressive adoption of an information technology for decision support and management control purposes when managing NPD processes and activities. We focused on the perspectives of senior management over two specific time periods of before and near the commercial launch of their new salmon fish products. Through the use of the analytics tool, Leximancer, we observed how the reasoning, decision making, and emphasis on senior management had changed over a six-month period. Our findings show the changes in organizational cultures after digital transformation was applied and overhauled onto their new product development process

Make the adder count: population trends from a citizen science survey of UK adders

Concern has been growing about the status of UK adder populations, with expert opinion reporting widespread declines. Assessing the true scale of these declines, however, has been hampered by a lack of quantitative data. Make the Adder Count began in 2005 as a national surveillance programme collecting standardised counts of adders lying-out after emerging from hibernation. 260 sites have contributed data, confirming a significant decline, on average, across sites with small populations, while the few with large populations (<10 % of sites) are weakly increasing. If these trends continue, within 15‒20 years, adders will be restricted to a few large population sites, significantly increasing the extinction risk for this priority species in the UK. Public pressure/disturbance was reported as the most frequent negative factor affecting sites, followed by habitat management and habitat fragmentation. Negative impacts from habitat management were reported almost as frequently as positive impacts, suggesting many management plans do not adequately consider the requirements of adders. The dataset also demonstrated earlier emergence among males, in warmer springs and at more northerly sites

Quantification of placental change in mouse models of preeclampsia using magnetic resonance microscopy

Abnormal development of the placenta is postulated to be central to the aetiology of preeclampsia. This study investigates changes in placental histopathology in mouse models of preeclampsia compared to the morphology using magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM) (11.7 T) of intact ex vivo tissue followed by 3D analysis of the image data. Here, C57BL/6JArc pregnant mice were subject to either normal pregnancy (n=3), or to one of two experimental models of preeclampsia; TNF-α infusion  (n=3) or reduced uterine perfusion pressure(RUPP) (n=3). Placental tissue was collected at gestational day (gd) 17, fixed in formalin and incubated with Magnavist™ contrast agent, and high resolution images (50 μm × 50 μm × 50 μm voxels) obtained by magnetic resonance imaging at 11.74 T. Visual segmentation into placental subregions and three dimensional (3D) reconstruction followed by volume analysis was performed with Amira™ 3D analysis software. The significance of differences between treatment groups in total and regional volumes was assessed. In a single placenta the volumes measure by standard histology were compared. Three placentas from each animal were imaged, segmented into anatomical regions and 3D reconstructions generated. Total placental volume, labyrinth and decidual volume were not significantly different between groups. The junctional zone volume was found to be significantly larger in the RUPP animals (18.5±1.5 mm3) compared to TNF-α infused animals (15.8±1.5) or control animals (15.0±0.7, P<0.01). However, the decidual/junctional zone volume was smaller in the TNF-a compared to control animals (P<0.05). Placental structural change in experimental models of preeclampsia is able to be visualized and quantified using MRM and 3-D analysis. These techniques could prove to be a powerful tool in examining changes in placental morphology

Magnetic resonance imaging detects placental hypoxia and acidosis in mouse models of perturbed pregnancies

Endothelial dysfunction as a result of dysregulation of anti-angiogenic molecules secreted by the placenta leads to the maternal hypertensive response characteristic of the pregnancy complication of preeclampsia. Structural abnormalities in the placenta have been proposed to result in altered placental perfusion, placental oxidative stress, cellular damage and inflammation and the release of anti-angiogenic compounds into the maternal circulation. The exact link between these factors is unclear. Here we show, using Magnetic Resonance Imaging as a tool to examine placental changes in mouse models of perturbed pregnancies, that T2 contrast between distinct regions of the placenta is abolished at complete loss of blood flow. Alterations in T2 (spin-spin or transverse) relaxation times are explained as a consequence of hypoxia and acidosis within the tissue. Similar changes are observed in perturbed pregnancies, indicating that acidosis as well as hypoxia may be a feature of pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia and may play a prominent role in the signalling pathways that lead to the increased secretion of anti-angiogenic compounds