2,452 research outputs found
Leadership and capability development and deployment in the New Zealand State Service
This article describes the design during 2013 of a model and implementation principles of a leadership and capability development and deployment (LCDD) model for the state services system. In this process, an initial prototype model was developed to describe a desired future state. It was informed by the best traditions of state services leadership development, together with models used by the worldâs best companies, such as Procter & Gamble, for leadership development (Filipkowski and Donlon, 2013). The model was then enhanced based on our research in other jurisdictions, including Australia, Singapore and the United Kingdom, and co-creation with stakeholders. This is further discussed in the article.
Dr Mike Pratt is Professor of Leadership and Sustainability at the University of Waikato, and a professional director and business adviser. Dr Murray Horn is a former Secretary to the Treasury of New Zealand and bank chief executive, and a professional director and business adviser
Palliative care inpatient needs:Supportive and Palliative Care Indicator Tool Survey in Kenya
Relative numbers of cortical and brainstem inputs to the lateral geniculate nucleus
ABSTRACT Terminals of a morphological type known as RD (for round vesicles and dense mitochondria, which we define here as the aggregate of types formerly known as RSD and RLD, where ''S'' is small and ''L'' is large) constitute at least half of the synaptic inputs to the feline lateral geniculate nucleus, which represents the thalamic relay of retinal input to cortex. It had been thought that the vast majority of these RD terminals were of cortical origin, making the corticogeniculate pathway by far the largest source of input to geniculate relay cells. However, another source of RD terminals recently identified derives from cholinergic cells of the brainstem parabrachial region. (These cells also contain NO.) We used techniques of electron microscopy to determine quantitatively the relative contribution of cortex and brainstem to the population of RD terminals. We identified corticogeniculate terminals by orthograde transport of biocytin injected into the visual cortex and identified brainstem terminals by immunocytochemical labeling for choline acetyltransferase or brain NO synthase (the synthesizing enzymes for acetylcholine and NO, respectively). We estimated the relative numbers of corticogeniculate and brainstem terminals with a two-step algorithm: First, we determined the relative probability of sampling each terminal type in our material, and then we calculated what mixture of identified corticogeniculate and brainstem terminals was needed to recreate the size distribution of the parent RD terminal population. We conclude that brainstem terminals comprise roughly one-half of the RD population. Thus, the cortical input is perhaps half as large and the brainstem input is an order of magnitude larger than had been thought. This further suggests that the brainstem inputs might play a surprisingly complex and subtle role in the control of the geniculocortical relay. It is often claimed that terminals from visual cortex form the dominant input to the lateral geniculate nucleus, which is the thalamic relay of retinal input to the visual cortex (1-4). This is because corticogeniculate axons end in a characteristic type of synaptic terminal we shall refer to as ''RD'' (for round vesicles and dense mitochondria), and RD terminals are the majority found in the geniculate neuropil (1, 2, 4, 5). The RD terminal type represents an aggregate of what was previously defined as RSD and RLD terminals (1, 6), where the ''S'' and ''L'' refer to small and large, respectively. However, we have shown that, based on size, RSD and RLD terminals form a continuum (6) and that there is thus little justification for separating them, so we prefer to lump them together under the new term ''RD.'' Until recently, few candidate sources for RD terminals other than corticogeniculate axons have been identified, and it has been assumed that nearly all of these emanate in the feedback pathway from visual cortex (refs. 1-4 but also see ref. 7). As a result, many functions have been suggested for the corticothalamic pathway in controlling or modifying the thalamic relay (reviewed in ref. 5), and other extrathalamic sources of input have been relegated a less important role. However, we now know that cholinergic terminals from the parabrachial region of the brainstem also display RD morphology, but we have lacked quantitative data permitting us to determine what proportion of the dominant RD terminal population is cortical vs. brainstem in origin. Using material from the cat's lateral geniculate nucleus, we used an algorithm based on size distributions of RD terminals identified as deriving from cortical neurons or from cholinergic brainstem neurons, and we conclude that the brainstem contribution is much greater than previously thought, providing approximately half of the RD terminals. We suggest that, although the corticothalamic input is large, it is not as dominant as once thought, and inputs from the brainstem are much more important in the geniculate relay than has been appreciated. Our basic methods have been fully described elsewher
Dynamics of pebbles in the vicinity of a growing planetary embryo: hydro-dynamical simulations
Understanding the growth of the cores of giant planets is a difficult
problem. Recently, Lambrechts and Johansen (2012; LJ12) proposed a new model in
which the cores grow by the accretion of pebble-size objects, as the latter
drift towards the star due to gas drag. Here, we investigate the dynamics of
pebble-size objects in the vicinity of planetary embryos of 1 and 5 Earth
masses and the resulting accretion rates. We use hydrodynamical simulations, in
which the embryo influences the dynamics of the gas and the pebbles suffer gas
drag according to the local gas density and velocities. The pebble dynamics in
the vicinity of the planetary embryo is non-trivial, and it changes
significantly with the pebble size. Nevertheless, the accretion rate of the
embryo that we measure is within an order of magnitude of the rate estimated in
LJ12 and tends to their value with increasing pebble-size. We conclude that the
model by LJ12 has the potential to explain the rapid growth of giant planet
cores. The actual accretion rates however, depend on the surface density of
pebble size objects in the disk, which is unknown to date.Comment: In press in Astronomy and Astrophysic
On the tidal environment of an outwardly migrating F ring
Saturnâs F-ring is a unique narrow ring that lies radially close to the tidally disruptive Roche limit of Saturn for water ice. Significant work has been done on the system that shows it to be one of the most dynamic places in the Solar System. Aggregates fortunate enough to form constantly battle against the strong tidal forces of Saturn and the nearby moons Prometheus and Pandora, which act to gravitationally stir up ring material. Planetary rings are also known to radially spread, with the outer ring edge migrating outwards. As the F ring lies at the edge of the main rings, we investigate the effect of an outwardly migrated F ring and its interaction with Prometheus. For each model with decreasing local tidal environment, an increase in maximum number density of particles at the channel edges is observed. In the same locations as particles with maximum number densities, radial velocity dispersion's are observed to fall below escape velocities of a 150m icy moonlet (<10 cm s^(-1)), and are gravitationally unstable with Toomre parameters Q<2. Additionally, in locations of the ring where Q<2 is observed, more particles are seen to fall below or close to critical values as the radial location of the ring increases
What is the biological basis of pattern formation of skin lesions?
Pattern recognition is at the heart of clinical dermatology and dermatopathology. Yet, while every practitioner of the art of dermatological diagnosis recognizes the supreme value of diagnostic cues provided by defined patterns of 'efflorescences', few contemplate on the biological basis of pattern formation in and of skin lesions. Vice versa, developmental and theoretical biologists, who would be best prepared to study skin lesion patterns, are lamentably slow to discover this field as a uniquely instructive testing ground for probing theoretical concepts on pattern generation in the human system. As a result, we have at best scraped the surface of understanding the biological basis of pattern formation of skin lesions, and widely open questions dominate over definitive answer. As a symmetry-breaking force, pattern formation represents one of the most fundamental principles that nature enlists for system organization. Thus, the peculiar and often characteristic arrangements that skin lesions display provide a unique opportunity to reflect upon â and to experimentally dissect â the powerful organizing principles at the crossroads of developmental, skin and theoretical biology, genetics, and clinical dermatology that underlie these â increasingly less enigmatic â phenomena. The current 'Controversies' feature offers a range of different perspectives on how pattern formation of skin lesions can be approached. With this, we hope to encourage more systematic interdisciplinary research efforts geared at unraveling the many unsolved, yet utterly fascinating mysteries of dermatological pattern formation. In short: never a dull pattern
Tyrphostin AG126 exerts neuroprotection in CNS inflammation by a dual mechanism
© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Acknowledgement Grant sponsor: State of Lower Saxony-Israel Research Cooperation; Grant number: ZN2035; Grant sponsor:German Research Council; Grant number: SFB/TRR43 and FOR1336; Grant sponsor: Parkinson UK; Grant number: K-1001; Grant sponsor: ProFutura Program (University of Gottingen); Grant sponsor: Else Kroner Fresenius Stiftung;Grant number: A69/2010; Grant sponsor: DFG; Grant number: WE 3547/4â1; Grant sponsor: US National Multiple Sclerosis Society; Grant numbers: NMSS; PP 1660. The authors thank Elke Pralle, Susanne Kiecke and Caroline JaĂ (University of Gottingen) for excellent technical assistance.Peer reviewedPostprin
Children's Norm Enforcement in Their Interactions With Peers
This study investigates how children negotiate social norms with peers. In Study 1, 48 pairs of 3- and 5-year-olds (N = 96) and in Study 2, 48 pairs of 5- and 7-year-olds (N = 96) were presented with sorting tasks with conflicting instructions (one child by color, the other by shape) or identical instructions. Three-year-olds differed from older children: They were less selective for the contexts in which they enforced norms, and they (as well as the older children to a lesser extent) used grammatical constructions objectifying the norms (âIt works like thisâ rather than âYou must do it like thisâ). These results suggested that children's understanding of social norms becomes more flexible during the preschool years.Psycholog
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