A computer-based application to understanding marketing plans : the Bridges' marketing plan flow chart : a research report presented in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Business Administration at Massey University

The scene is the Jelita Cold Storage supermarket, 1983. The refridgerated display shelves still contain many bottles of New Zealand milk. There are gaps were the cartons of Australian milk stood. A glance at the price tags reveals the reason: New Zealand milk, $5.99; Australian milk,$3.05. Now, walk over to the meat department. Small Australian flags decorate the fare. A request for New Zealand lamb sends the assistant scuttling out the back to search. Finally, move over to the fruit stand plastered with large posters of New Zealand apples. Underneath, the apples are French. Why? There have been no shipments of New Zealand apples for several months. This shopping expedition was concluded with a trip to the Trade Commissioner at the New Zealand High Commission. The questions: - Why are New Zealand's goods priced so high compared with competitors? - Why are New Zealands products not attractively displayed? and - Why aren't advertising efforts and supply deliveries better co-ordinated? brought a surprised, "We don't need to market. Everyone knows our products are the best!"

Identification of the Microbiota Metabolite, Indole, as a Novel Immune Modulator for Antigen-Presenting Cells in the Gut

Mammals are colonized by trillions of symbiotic microbes, termed the microbiota. This collection of predominantly bacteria greatly outnumbers the host’s own cells in number, genomic content, and biochemical potential. Extensive research has revealed the necessity of the microbiota for developing a fully functional intestinal and systemic immune system. While definitive crosstalk between host microbiota and immune system exists, the discrete compounds responsible for altering immune cell function remain to be fully characterized. Antigen-presenting cells (APCs) are fundamental regulators of immunity and integrate signals from their local environment to direct immune responses. Primary roles of APCs include antigen presentation to naïve T cells, tissue integrity maintenance, and cytokine secretion to instruct activity of other immune cells. APCs residing at mucosal sites have a unique role in maintaining homeostasis by promoting peripheral tolerance to harmless commensal microorganisms. The dysregulation of this phenomenon promotes chronic inflammation in the intestinal tract, which predisposes the host to numerous cancers and metabolic disorders. Identifying and manipulating the specific microbiota components that drive tolerance in the gastrointestinal tract is a primary goal of current immunological research. Indole is a microbiota-derived metabolite produced by numerous bacterial species and present at high concentrations in the intestines. Previous work from our lab and others has demonstrated a protective role of indole in the GI tract. In this study, we show that indole is able to suppress pro-inflammatory responses and promote mucosal phenotype and function in APCs. Remarkably, indole-conditioned dendritic cells (DCs) imprinted naïve T cells with gut-homing markers and preferentially induced regulatory T cells. Our overall findings reveal that indole conditions DCs towards a mucosal phenotype in a manner mechanistically distinct from the canonical GI signal, retinoic acid. In addition, indole-conditioned DCs are capable of promoting a regulatory phenotype in naïve T cells. These observations reveal a novel mechanism by which an endogenous microbiota metabolite conditions APCs for optimal function in mucosal tissues, thus providing evidence for a single metabolite promoting properties associated with peripheral tolerance. This revelation paves the way for future work in manipulating the microbiota for therapeutic potential in autoimmune and inflammatory disorders of the GI tract

A needs assessment of the integration of domestic violence and substance abuse services for women

The purposes of the study was to conduct a needs assessment in order to assess the problem of substance abuse among the women in domestic violence agencies. Data was collected by surveys that were mailed out to the directors of domestic violence agencies within two counties, San Bernardino and Los Angeles, California

Relationship Between Extent of Extracurricular Participation, Employment, and Substance Use Among Middle and High School Students

This study examined the relationship between student use of substances and extent of participation in school and/or community sponsored sport or nonsport activity. The study also examined student substance use and extent of participation in sport or nonsport activity together with extent of employment. Data were provided by 24,699 public school youths who attended grades 6 through 12 and completed the 2001-2002 Duval Secondary Substance Use and Violence Survey: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors. Frequency tables, crosstabulation, chi-square tests, and loglinear analysis were used to analyze the data. The study found: (a) a higher percentage of respondents who participated in 11 or more hours of sport/athletic activity or nonsport activity reported using substances almost every day than did respondents who participated in 1-5 hours of activity (b) a higher percentage of students reported using alcohol almost every day when involved in greater than 20 hours of work per week and 11 or more hours of sport/athletic or nonsport participation than did those with lesser involvement in activity in conjunction with work at any level. Extracurricular programs and student employment may function as protective factors in discouraging adolescent substance use. Extracurricular programs and student employment may also place the student at greater risk for substance abuse when such involvement exceeds 20 hours per week in work and more than 11 hours per week of extracurricular activity. While extracurricular programs and student employment should be designed and offered to encourage widespread student participation, extent of participation should be monitored to assure healthy participation

Effects of Aging on Patellofemoral Joint Stress During Stair Negotiation on Challenging Surfaces

Introduction: Patellofemoral pain is an incessant lower limb musculoskeletal disorder that may be underreported in older adults. During common locomotor activities, such as when negotiating stairs, older adults (over the age of 65 years) adopt knee biomechanics reported to increase patellofemoral pain. Negotiating stairs with a challenging surface, such as uneven or slick, may place greater demand on the knee and further exacerbate joint biomechanics related to PFJ stress. Yet, it is unknown if older adults exhibit increases in patellofemoral joint (PFJ) stress when negotiating stairs with challenging surfaces. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of age (young and older adults) and surface (normal, slick, and uneven) on the magnitude and temporal waveform of patellofemoral joint stress during stair ascent and descent tasks. Methods: Two cohorts (12 young: ages 18-25 years; 12 older: over 65 years) had knee biomechanics quantified after they ascended and descended 18.5 cm stairs on normal, slick, and uneven surfaces at a self-selected speed. Statistical Analysis: Peak of stance (0-100%) PFJ stress and associated components (including PFJ reaction force and contact area, and knee flexion angle and moment) were submitted to a two-way RM ANOVA to test the main effects of and interaction between age (young vs old) and surface (normal, slick, and uneven). A statistical parametric mapping two-way ANOVA was used to determine main effects of and interaction between age and surface for the PFJ stress waveform. Results: During the stair ascent, older adults exhibited greater PFJ stress from 56 to 84% of stance (p \u3c 0.001), which may be attributed to the greater PFJ stress-time integral (p = 0.004) and later peak PFJ stress (p = 0.024) compared to young adults. Additionally, a significant age by surface interaction was observed for time of peak PFJ stress (p = 0.041) during stair ascent, where older adults exhibited a later peak PFJ stress compared to young adults (p = 0.008), and later peak PFJ stress compared to normal and slick surface (both: p = 0.014). Surface impacted PFJ stress waveform (all: p \u3c 0.001), but not magnitude (p \u3e 0.05) during both stair ascent and descent. During stair ascent on the uneven surface, participants exhibited smaller PFJ stress from 8 to 25% of stance compared to normal surface, but greater PFJ stress from 57 to 90% and 49 to 77% of stance compared to the normal and slick surfaces (all: p \u3c 0.001). On the uneven surface, participants exhibited a greater PFJ stress-time integral (both: p = 0.010) compared to the normal and slick surfaces. During stair descent, on the uneven surface, participants only exhibited greater PFJ stress-time integral (p = 0.017) compared to slick surface, while PFJ stress was smaller from 5 to 18% of stance, but greater stress from 92 to 99% of stance (both: p \u3c 0.001) on the slick compared to the normal surface. Conclusion: Older adults are more likely to exhibit knee biomechanics related to PFJ pain development when navigating stairs. Specifically, the larger, later PFJ stress exhibited by older adults when ascending, but not descending the stairs may increase loading of the joint’s articular cartilage and increase risk of developing PFJ pain. Yet, all participants exhibited alterations in knee biomechanics that may lead to greater PFJ stress when negotiating stairs with slick and uneven surfaces

Identification of the Microbiota Metabolite, Indole, as a Novel Immune Modulator for Antigen-Presenting Cells in the Gut

Mammals are colonized by trillions of symbiotic microbes, termed the microbiota. This collection of predominantly bacteria greatly outnumbers the host’s own cells in number, genomic content, and biochemical potential. Extensive research has revealed the necessity of the microbiota for developing a fully functional intestinal and systemic immune system. While definitive crosstalk between host microbiota and immune system exists, the discrete compounds responsible for altering immune cell function remain to be fully characterized. Antigen-presenting cells (APCs) are fundamental regulators of immunity and integrate signals from their local environment to direct immune responses. Primary roles of APCs include antigen presentation to naïve T cells, tissue integrity maintenance, and cytokine secretion to instruct activity of other immune cells. APCs residing at mucosal sites have a unique role in maintaining homeostasis by promoting peripheral tolerance to harmless commensal microorganisms. The dysregulation of this phenomenon promotes chronic inflammation in the intestinal tract, which predisposes the host to numerous cancers and metabolic disorders. Identifying and manipulating the specific microbiota components that drive tolerance in the gastrointestinal tract is a primary goal of current immunological research. Indole is a microbiota-derived metabolite produced by numerous bacterial species and present at high concentrations in the intestines. Previous work from our lab and others has demonstrated a protective role of indole in the GI tract. In this study, we show that indole is able to suppress pro-inflammatory responses and promote mucosal phenotype and function in APCs. Remarkably, indole-conditioned dendritic cells (DCs) imprinted naïve T cells with gut-homing markers and preferentially induced regulatory T cells. Our overall findings reveal that indole conditions DCs towards a mucosal phenotype in a manner mechanistically distinct from the canonical GI signal, retinoic acid. In addition, indole-conditioned DCs are capable of promoting a regulatory phenotype in naïve T cells. These observations reveal a novel mechanism by which an endogenous microbiota metabolite conditions APCs for optimal function in mucosal tissues, thus providing evidence for a single metabolite promoting properties associated with peripheral tolerance. This revelation paves the way for future work in manipulating the microbiota for therapeutic potential in autoimmune and inflammatory disorders of the GI tract

Adapted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for School-Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Interfering Anxiety: Impact on Caregiver-Defined Goals

Central challenges for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can include difficulties with social communication, symptoms of emotional dysregulation, and pervasive effects of rigid and repetitive behaviors (Cuccaro et al., 2003; Matson & Nebel-Schwalm, 2007; Samson et al., 2014). Further, the heterogeneous phenotypes of individuals with ASD are often typified by additional forms of psychopathology. Nearly 40% of children with ASD are estimated to present with clinically elevated levels of anxiety (Van Steensel et al., 2011). Psychotherapy is a commonly used treatment for school-aged children with ASD and co-occurring anxiety. This secondary data analysis of a multisite randomized clinical trial (Wood et al., 2019) compared two variants of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to explore the most efficacious treatment for addressing specific caregiver-defined goals. In this study, adapted CBT (BIACA; Wood et al., 2009) and standard-of-practice CBT (Coping Cat; Kendall & Hedtke, 2006) were compared: (1) to better understand the varying types of clinical needs that children with ASD and anxiety present with, and (2) to investigate which CBT approach is best suited to support these varying clinical needs. In this study’s subsample, children with ASD and clinical levels of anxiety (N=148; aged 7-13 years, Mage=9.90, SD=1.78) were randomly assigned to a treatment condition (BIACA or Coping Cat). Both treatments provided 16 therapy sessions. BIACA personalized treatment through the utilization of a modular design which apportioned evidence-based treatment elements based on each child’s clinical need. Coping Cat provided CBT in a prescriptive format regardless of child’s overall clinical presentation. The primary outcome measure was parent severity ratings on caregiver-defined goals throughout treatment (Youth Top Problems; Weisz et al., 2011). BIACA outperformed Coping Cat on the primary outcome measure (p=.005). The findings from this study can inform clinicians about the benefits of personalized treatment plans as well as which caregiver-defined goals are better served by the modular/personalized format of adapted CBT. Further research should explore the feasibility of implementation by clinicians in varying contexts

Cornundrums

Many English words begin with CON. These letters can be replaced by CORN without significantly altering either the pronunciation or the appearance of the words.The answers to the following riddles require the substitution of CORN for CON in some everyday terms. In order to answer the riddles correctly, one need only be able to pretend that cornstalks engage in activities similar to those that occupy the time and attention of people