Standing on the Toes of Giants: Social Movement Theory and the Case of the Learning Organisation.

The thesis examines two interrelated topics; the perception of management theory in general, and the efficacy of the learning organisation in particular. The purpose of this thesis, therefore, is to compare the rhetoric espoused in the learning organisation literature with a survey of senior managers in large, commercial organisations. The results revealed a positive disposition towards business and management theory in general. The survey also demonstrated that leadership is considered the most important variable in the success of a company. This is facilitated through the attraction and retention of the appropriate staff and creating sufficient space for them to operate. Learning is embedded by anticipating the future, learning from the past and enabling good communication. However, the latter is balanced through change management. This is derived through legitimate authority and a reliance on planning. Finally, a strategy of experimentation is balanced by challenging industry rules. Themes involving politics, corporate alignment and corporate longevity were found to have relatively little convergent validity. The third section of the questionnaire reveals a positive disposition towards the learning organisation. The contribution of this thesis is in three areas. First, it is the only work to evaluate the anti-guru school. Second is the development of a syncretic model of learning organisation concept using structural equation modelling. Finally, it explains and examines the largely misunderstood concept of management fashions

Effects of Arousal on the Cognitive Processing of Information in an Eyewitness Setting

Psycholog

Optimal scales to observe habitat dynamics: A coral reef example

A new technique to estimate the characteristic length scales (CLSs) of real ecological systems provides an objective means to identify the optimal scale(s) of observation to best detect underlying dynamical trends. Application of the technique to natural systems has focused on identifying appropriate scales to measure the dynamics of species as descriptors of community and ecosystem dynamics. However, ecosystem monitoring is often based not on assessing single species, but on species assemblages, functional groups, or habitat types. We asked whether the concept of CLSs based on dynamic interactions among species could be extended to examine interactions among habitat types and thus to identify optimal scales for observing habitat dynamics. A time series of three spatial maps of benthic habitats on a Caribbean coral reef was constructed from aerial photographs, Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI) images, and IKONOS satellite images, providing the short time sequence required for this technique. We estimated the CLS based on the dynamics of three distinct habitat types: dense stands of seagrass, sparse stands of seagrass, and Montastrea patch reefs. Despite notable differences in the areal extent of and relative change in these habitats over the 21-year observation period, analyses based on each habitat type indicated a similar CLS of similar to 300 m. We interpret the consistency of CLSs among habitats to indicate that the dynamics of the three habitat types are linked. The results are encouraging, and they indicate that CLS techniques can be used to identify the appropriate scale at which to monitor ecosystem trends on the basis of the dynamics of only one of a disparate suite of habitat types

A Prospective Surveillance Study of Candidaemia : Epidemiology, Risk Factors, Antifungal Treatment and Outcome in Hospitalized Patients

Funding This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust Strategic Award for Medical Mycology and Fungal Immunology 097377/Z/11/Z. Data collection was supported by a grant from Pfizer. GR was also supported by a research fellowship grant from Gilead Sciences. The collection of the isolates was funded by a Gilead Fellowship to GR. Acknowledgments We are grateful to microbiology colleagues throughout Scotland for submitting isolates. Antimicrobial sensitivity testing was performed by the Mycology Reference Laboratory, Public Health England, Bristol.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Alteration of Electroencephalographic Responses to Castration in Cats by Administration of Opioids

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of opioids on electroencephalogram (EEG) indices of nociception in cats undergoing castration. Cats were randomly assigned to receive one of the four treatments (n=8); 0.2 mg/kg morphine, 0.005 mg/ kg fentanyl, 0.01 mg/kg buprenorphine or 0.2 mg/kg butorphanol, administered subcutaneously (SC) at the time of pre-anesthetic medication. Anesthesia was induced with intravenous propofol and maintained with halothane in oxygen. EEG was recorded continuously in a three electrode montage. Median frequency (F50), total power (PTOT) and 95% spectral edge frequency (F95) derived from the EEG power spectra recorded prior to skin incision (baseline) were compared with those recorded during the ligation of the spermatic cords of both testicles. During the ligation of testicle 1, the mean F50 of cats that received buprenorphine and butorphanol was significantly (p0.05). These results indicate that opioid analgesics, acting at different opioid receptors with variable affinity, produce changes in the EEG responses that reflect their anti-nociceptive efficacy. This study demonstrates the usefulness of the EEG as a valid tool for evaluating analgesic efficacy in cats, as shown in other species of animals in previous studies

Interactive Visual Histories for Vector Graphics

Presentation and graphics software enables users to experiment with variations of illustrations. They can revisit recent editing operations using the ubiquitous undo command, but they are limited to sequential exploration. We propose a new interaction metaphor and visualization for operation history. While editing, a user can access a history mode in which actions are denoted by graphical depictions appearing on top of the document. Our work is inspired by the visual language of film storyboards and assembly instructions. Our storyboard provides an interactive visual history, summarizing the editing of a document or a selected object. Each view is composed of action depictions representing the userâ s editing actions and enables the user to consider the operation history in context rather than in a disconnected list view. This metaphor provides instant access to any past action and we demonstrate that this is an intuitive interface to a selective undo mechanism

Dietary interventions for adults with chronic kidney disease

Background: Dietary changes are routinely recommended in people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) on the basis of randomised evidence in the general population and non-randomised studies in CKD that suggest certain healthy eating patterns may prevent cardiovascular events and lower mortality. People who have kidney disease have prioritised dietary modifications as an important treatment uncertainty. Objectives: This review evaluated the benefits and harms of dietary interventions among adults with CKD including people with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) treated with dialysis or kidney transplantation. Search methods: We searched the Cochrane Kidney and Transplant Specialised Register (up to 31 January 2017) through contact with the Information Specialist using search terms relevant to this review. Studies contained in the Specialised Register are identified through search strategies specifically designed for CENTRAL, MEDLINE, and EMBASE; handsearching conference proceedings; and searching the International Clinical Trials Register (ICTRP) Search Portal and ClinicalTrials.gov. Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi-randomised RCTs of dietary interventions versus other dietary interventions, lifestyle advice, or standard care assessing mortality, cardiovascular events, health-related quality of life, and biochemical, anthropomorphic, and nutritional outcomes among people with CKD. Data collection and analysis: Two authors independently screened studies for inclusion and extracted data. Results were summarised as risk ratios (RR) for dichotomous outcomes or mean differences (MD) or standardised MD (SMD) for continuous outcomes, with 95% confidence intervals (CI) or in descriptive format when meta-analysis was not possible. Confidence in the evidence was assessed using GRADE. Main results: We included 17 studies involving 1639 people with CKD. Three studies enrolled 341 people treated with dialysis, four studies enrolled 168 kidney transplant recipients, and 10 studies enrolled 1130 people with CKD stages 1 to 5. Eleven studies (900 people) evaluated dietary counselling with or without lifestyle advice and six evaluated dietary patterns (739 people), including one study (191 people) of a carbohydrate-restricted low-iron, polyphenol enriched diet, two studies (181 people) of increased fruit and vegetable intake, two studies (355 people) of a Mediterranean diet and one study (12 people) of a high protein/low carbohydrate diet. Risks of bias in the included studies were generally high or unclear, lowering confidence in the results. Participants were followed up for a median of 12 months (range 1 to 46.8 months). Studies were not designed to examine all-cause mortality or cardiovascular events. In very-low quality evidence, dietary interventions had uncertain effects on all-cause mortality or ESKD. In absolute terms, dietary interventions may prevent one person in every 3000 treated for one year avoiding ESKD, although the certainty in this effect was very low. Across all 17 studies, outcome data for cardiovascular events were sparse. Dietary interventions in low quality evidence were associated with a higher health-related quality of life (2 studies, 119 people: MD in SF-36 score 11.46, 95% CI 7.73 to 15.18; I = 0%). Adverse events were generally not reported. Dietary interventions lowered systolic blood pressure (3 studies, 167 people: MD -9.26 mm Hg, 95% CI -13.48 to -5.04; I = 80%) and diastolic blood pressure (2 studies, 95 people: MD -8.95, 95% CI -10.69 to -7.21; I = 0%) compared to a control diet. Dietary interventions were associated with a higher estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (5 studies, 219 people: SMD 1.08; 95% CI 0.26 to 1.97; I = 88%) and serum albumin levels (6 studies, 541 people: MD 0.16 g/dL, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.24; I = 26%). A Mediterranean diet lowered serum LDL cholesterol levels (1 study, 40 people: MD -1.00 mmol/L, 95% CI -1.56 to -0.44). Authors' conclusions: Dietary interventions have uncertain effects on mortality, cardiovascular events and ESKD among people with CKD as these outcomes were rarely measured or reported. Dietary interventions may increase health-related quality of life, eGFR, and serum albumin, and lower blood pressure and serum cholesterol levels. Based on stakeholder prioritisation of dietary research in the setting of CKD and preliminary evidence of beneficial effects on risks factors for clinical outcomes, large-scale pragmatic RCTs to test the effects of dietary interventions on patient outcomes are required