449 research outputs found

    Who Is In Charge Here? A Feminist Communicology Of Followership And Leadership In An Academic Organization

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    Thesis (M.A.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2008This feminist critical study explicates the ways that followership is conceptualized at an academic organization in the Pacific Northwest. Through the use of qualitative methods, stories were solicited providing descriptions of events that define the hegemonically masculine ways that followership is conceptualized, suggesting the need for a feminist critical analysis and revisioning. A number of themes emerged from conversational interviews including: conceptual verisimilitude, archetypes of leadership, alternative conceptions of followership, the role of action in leadership and followership, and the emergent organization. The capta gathered from this qualitative study suggest a revisioning of human organization and recognizes leadership and followership as existing in a reciprocally defining communicative relationship. Leadership and followership are found to be constructed in an existential exchange addressing a specific need within an organization and its immediate requirements. When viewed from this communicative perspective organizational members come to develop a more sophisticated, relational, and dialectic understanding of the construction of leadership and followership

    Steps to Better Cardiovascular Health: How Many Steps Does It Take to Achieve Good Health and How Confident Are We in This Number?

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    Pedometers and other types of step-counting devices are growing in popularity with both researchers and practitioners. The focus of this article is on describing the most recent pedometer-related advances in terms of cardiovascular health. The emergent body of evidence suggests that pedometer-determined physical activity is related to a number of cardiovascular health outcomes and that intervention participants can realize modest changes in body mass index and blood pressure. Taking into consideration individual baseline values, tailored messages congruent with public health recommendations should promote incremental increases in steps/day on the order of an extra 3,000 to 4,000 (approximately 30 min) of at least moderate intensity and taken in at least 10-minute bouts. Additional health benefits accrue with greater increases. Of course, even more benefits are possible from engaging in vigorous physical activity, but this seems less appealing for most people. Pedometer-based guidelines are not intended to supplant existing public health recommendations, but rather supplement them

    Do resource bases enable social inclusion of students with Asperger syndrome in a mainstream secondary school?

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    This research identifies the way in which one secondary school with a resourced provision for students with Asperger syndrome promotes the social inclusion for them, and the perceptions of staff members and parents on the social experience of schooling for these children. Interviews were conducted with five teachers, two learning support assistants and the head of the resourced provision. Questionnaires were completed by eight parents of students with Asperger syndrome. The research found that a positive social experience of schooling was perceived by members of staff and parents due to the additional support of the resource in teaching social skills, providing a safe place and the support from learning support assistants. Some negative perceptions of social experience were also reported, which highlighted the need for educational provision for students on the autism spectrum to be considered at an individual level

    Nitrate modulates stem cell dynamics in Arabidopsis shoot meristems through cytokinins

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    The shoot apical meristem (SAM) is responsible for the generation of all the aerial parts of plants. Given its critical role, dynamical changes in SAM activity should play a central role in the adaptation of plant architecture to the environment. Using quantitative microscopy, grafting experiments, and genetic perturbations, we connect the plant environment to the SAM by describing the molecular mechanism by which cytokinins signal the level of nutrient availability to the SAM. We show that a systemic signal of cytokinin precursors mediates the adaptation of SAM size and organogenesis rate to the availability of mineral nutrients by modulating the expression of WUSCHEL, a key regulator of stem cell homeostasis. In time-lapse experiments, we further show that this mechanism allows meristems to adapt to rapid changes in nitrate concentration, and thereby modulate their rate of organ production to the availability of mineral nutrients within a few days. Our work sheds light on the role of the stem cell regulatory network by showing that it not only maintains meristem homeostasis but also allows plants to adapt to rapid changes in the environment

    Interactions between cell surface protein disulphide isomerase and S-nitrosoglutathione during nitric oxide delivery

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    In this study, we investigated the role of protein disulphide isomerase (PDI) in rapid metabolism of S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) and S-nitrosoalbumin (albSNO) and in NO delivery from these compounds into cells. Incubation of GSNO or albSNO (1 μM) with the megakaryocyte cell line MEG-01 resulted in a cell-mediated removal of each compound which was inhibited by blocking cell surface thiols with 5,5′-dithiobis 2-nitrobenzoic acid (DTNB) (100 μM) or inhibiting PDI with bacitracin (5 mM). GSNO, but not albSNO, rapidly inhibited platelet aggregation and stimulated cyclic GMP (cGMP) accumulation (used as a measure of intracellular NO entry). cGMP accumulation in response to GSNO (1 μM) was inhibited by MEG-01 treatment with bacitracin or DTNB, suggesting a role for PDI and surface thiols in NO delivery. PDI activity was present in MEG-01 conditioned medium, and was inhibited by high concentrations of GSNO (500 μM). A number of cell surface thiol-containing proteins were labelled using the impermeable thiol specific probe 3-(N-maleimido-propionyl) biocytin (MPB). Pretreatment of cells with GSNO resulted in a loss of thiol reactivity on some but not all proteins, suggesting selective cell surface thiol modification. Immunoprecipitation experiments showed that GSNO caused a concentration-dependent loss of thiol reactivity of PDI. Our data indicate that PDI is involved in both rapid metabolism of GSNO and intracellular NO delivery and that during this process PDI is itself altered by thiol modification. In contrast, the relevance of PDI-mediated albSNO metabolism to NO signalling is uncertain

    Schopenhauer on the Rights of Animals

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    I argue that Schopenhauer’s ascription of (moral) rights to animals flows naturally from his distinctive analysis of the concept of a right. In contrast to those who regard rights as fundamental and then cast wrongdoing as a matter of violating rights, he takes wrong (Unrecht) to be the more fundamental notion and defines the concept of a right (Recht) in its terms. He then offers an account of wrongdoing which makes it plausible to suppose that at least many animals can be wronged and thus, by extension, have rights. The result, I argue, is a perspective on the nature of moral rights in general, and the idea of animal rights in particular, that constitutes an important and plausible alternative to the more familiar views advanced by philosophers in recent decades

    Nitrate modulates stem cell dynamics in Arabidopsis shoot meristems through cytokinins

    Get PDF
    The shoot apical meristem (SAM) is responsible for the generation of all the aerial parts of plants. Given its critical role, dynamical changes in SAM activity should play a central role in the adaptation of plant architecture to the environment. Using quantitative microscopy, grafting experiments, and genetic perturbations, we connect the plant environment to the SAM by describing the molecular mechanism by which cytokinins signal the level of nutrient availability to the SAM. We show that a systemic signal of cytokinin precursors mediates the adaptation of SAM size and organogenesis rate to the availability of mineral nutrients by modulating the expression of WUSCHEL, a key regulator of stem cell homeostasis. In time-lapse experiments, we further show that this mechanism allows meristems to adapt to rapid changes in nitrate concentration, and thereby modulate their rate of organ production to the availability of mineral nutrients within a few days. Our work sheds light on the role of the stem cell regulatory network by showing that it not only maintains meristem homeostasis but also allows plants to adapt to rapid changes in the environment

    Randomized controlled trial of postoperative exercise rehabilitation program after lumbar spine fusion: study protocol

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    Abstract Background Lumbar spine fusion (LSF) effectively decreases pain and disability in specific spinal disorders; however, the disability rate following surgery remains high. This, combined with the fact that in Western countries the number of LSF surgeries is increasing rapidly it is important to develop rehabilitation interventions that improve outcomes. Methods/design In the present RCT-study we aim to assess the effectiveness of a combined back-specific and aerobic exercise intervention for patients after LSF surgery. One hundred patients will be randomly allocated to a 12-month exercise intervention arm or a usual care arm. The exercise intervention will start three months after surgery and consist of six individual guidance sessions with a physiotherapist and a home-based exercise program. The primary outcome measures are low back pain, lower extremity pain, disability and quality of life. Secondary outcomes are back function and kinesiophobia. Exercise adherence will also be evaluated. The outcome measurements will be assessed at baseline (3 months postoperatively), at the end of the exercise intervention period (15 months postoperatively), and after a 1-year follow-up. Discussion The present RCT will evaluate the effectiveness of a long-term rehabilitation program after LSF. To our knowledge this will be the first study to evaluate a combination of strength training, control of the neutral lumbar spine position and aerobic training principles in rehabilitation after LSF. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT00834015peerReviewe
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