NCRP Program Area Committee 7: Radiation Education, Risk Communication, Outreach, and Policy

Recognizing the central importance of effective communication, education, and policy across all of the domains of radiation safety and radiation protection, the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) established a new committee in 2013. Program Area Committee 7 (PAC 7) was created to develop projects and provide guidance on Radiation Education, Risk Communication, Outreach, and Policy. After identifying individuals with relevant expertise who were willing to serve, the Committee held its inaugural meeting in 2014. In 2015, the Committee increased its membership and began carrying out an expanded program of activities. One area of activity has involved providing input and feedback on risk communication issues to NCRP and other agencies. Another area of work has involved liaising with other NCRP committees (e.g., Council Committee 1 and PAC 3) to help incorporate psychosocial and risk communication issues into projects. Future efforts of NCRP\u27s newest PAC are expected to include the development of authoritative reports and commentaries dealing with critical issues and challenges in radiation risk communication, education, and policy

Faculty Survey regarding the establishment of an ROTC program

An example of a survey sent to faculty regarding the establishment of an ROTC program.https://scholars.fhsu.edu/military_science_rotc_docs/1007/thumbnail.jp

Over-expressing the C3 photosynthesis cycle enzyme Sedoheptulose-1-7 Bisphosphatase improves photosynthetic carbon gain and yield under fully open air CO2fumigation (FACE)

Abstract Background Biochemical models predict that photosynthesis in C3 plants is most frequently limited by the slower of two processes, the maximum capacity of the enzyme Rubisco to carboxylate RuBP (Vc,max), or the regeneration of RuBP via electron transport (J). At current atmospheric [CO2] levels Rubisco is not saturated; consequently, elevating [CO2] increases the velocity of carboxylation and inhibits the competing oxygenation reaction which is also catalyzed by Rubisco. In the future, leaf photosynthesis (A) should be increasingly limited by RuBP regeneration, as [CO2] is predicted to exceed 550 ppm by 2050. The C3 cycle enzyme sedoheptulose-1,7 bisphosphatase (SBPase, EC 3.1.3.17) has been shown to exert strong metabolic control over RuBP regeneration at light saturation. Results We tested the hypothesis that tobacco transformed to overexpressing SBPase will exhibit greater stimulation of A than wild type (WT) tobacco when grown under field conditions at elevated [CO2] (585 ppm) under fully open air fumigation. Growth under elevated [CO2] stimulated instantaneous A and the diurnal photosynthetic integral (A') more in transformants than WT. There was evidence of photosynthetic acclimation to elevated [CO2] via downregulation of Vc,max in both WT and transformants. Nevertheless, greater carbon assimilation and electron transport rates (J and Jmax) for transformants led to greater yield increases than WT at elevated [CO2] compared to ambient grown plants. Conclusion These results provide proof of concept that increasing content and activity of a single photosynthesis enzyme can enhance carbon assimilation and yield of C3 crops grown at [CO2] expected by the middle of the 21st century. </jats:sec

Health-impaired employees' job satisfaction: new evidence from Athens, Greece

By utilizing the 2008 Athens Area Study (AAS) data set, this study investigates four aspects of job satisfaction - total pay, promotion prospects, respect received from one's supervisor, and total job satisfaction - between healthy and heath-impaired employees. Health impaired employees are found to be less satisfied according to all job satisfaction measures even when a large number of productivity features, and job characteristics are controlled for. The outcomes suggest also that women are more satisfied with their jobs than men are, regardless of health status. Moreover, the estimations show that health impaired employees' job satisfaction is affected more than healthy employees' job satisfaction by adverse mental health symptoms (life dissatisfaction). Finally, health impaired employees are found to become more satisfied with their jobs with time after disability onset. The study concludes that health impaired employees may have higher expectations about what they will obtain from their work, and that they may have job satisfaction adjustments

The very large G-protein coupled receptor VLGR1: a component of the ankle link complex required for the normal development of auditory hair bundles

Sensory hair bundles in the inner ear are composed of stereocilia that can be interconnected by a variety of different link types, including tip links, horizontal top connectors, shaft connectors, and ankle links. The ankle link antigen is an epitope specifically associated with ankle links and the calycal processes of photoreceptors in chicks. Mass spectrometry and immunoblotting were used to identify this antigen as the avian ortholog of the very large G-protein-coupled receptor VLGR1, the product of the Usher syndrome USH2C (Mass1) locus. Like ankle links, Vlgr1 is expressed transiently around the base of developing hair bundles in mice. Ankle links fail to form in the cochleae of mice carrying a targeted mutation in Vlgr1 (Vlgr1/del7TM), and the bundles become disorganized just after birth. FM1-43 [N-(3-triethylammonium)propyl)-4-(4-(dibutylamino)styryl) pyridinium dibromide] dye loading and whole-cell recordings indicate mechanotransduction is impaired in cochlear, but not vestibular, hair cells of early postnatal Vlgr1/del7TM mutant mice. Auditory brainstem recordings and distortion product measurements indicate that these mice are severely deaf by the third week of life. Hair cells from the basal half of the cochlea are lost in 2-month-old Vlgr1/del7TM mice, and retinal function is mildly abnormal in aged mutants. Our results indicate that Vlgr1 is required for formation of the ankle link complex and the normal development of cochlear hair bundles

Understanding and informing decisions on Sustainable Agricultural Intensification in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sustainable Agricultural Intensification (SAI) was initially defined as increasing agricultural production without adverse environmental impacts and without increasing the area under agriculture. Overtime the concept has been broadened to integrate social, economic, and environmental components of sustainability, each of which covers multiple facets or indicators of performance. It is recognized however that it may not be possible to optimise all these aspects of sustainability simultaneously and that trade-offs between them are likely to occur, although synergies are also possible. There has been disagreement over how to achieve SAI, with some proposing that only an “agroecological” intensification pathway delivers sustainability. Others take a broader perspective arguing that all aspects of ecological, genetic, and socio-economic intensification need to be considered, but then assessed in terms of the sustainability of the outcomes. A major concern is that intensification that focuses on agricultural technology can lead to inequitable outcomes for women and poorer households, while agroecological intensification building upon local capitals is generally considered more equitable. Understanding the potential outcomes and inherent trade-offs of different approaches requires interdisciplinary research, evidence and decision-making tools, some examples of which are presented in this Special Issue

An Investigation of Coach Behaviors, Goal Motives, and Implementation Intentions as Predictors of Well-Being in Sport

The present study aimed to expand upon Smith, Ntoumanis, and Duda’s (2007) research by investigating the influence of coach behaviors and implementation intentions on goal striving in sport. Structural equation modeling analysis with a sample of 108 athletes revealed coach behaviors as predictors of goal motives, which in turn predicted psychological well-being after 8 weeks. Supplementary regression analyses showed no interaction between autonomous goal motives and implementation intentions; however, a synergistic effect was identified for controlled goal motives such that controlled motives furnished with implementation intentions resulted in lower well-being than controlled motives alone. In further analyses, the motives underlying an implementation intention were found to mediate the paths from goal motives to well-being. The findings are discussed in terms of the roles played by goal motives, implementation intentions, and implementation intention motives during goal striving

A meta-methodology to enhance pluralist qualitative research: One man’s use of socio-sexual media and midlife adjustment to HIV

Aim: Our aim is to offer and illustrate a novel meta-methodology to enhance the rigour of method selection and understanding of results in pluralist qualitative research (PQR). Method: To do so, we make innovative use of articulation of four discrete dimensions characterising different forms of thematic analysis. We provide secondary analyses of an interview from the Social Media, Men who have Sex with Men and Sexual Health project using critical discursive psychology, dialogical analysis, interpretative phenomenological analysis and psychosocial narrative analysis. Results: All four methods identified aspects of three central foci: Compartmentalisation, Detachment and Jouissance. Conclusion: We discuss how our proposed meta-methodology provides a rationale for the selection of methods in a PQR, offer evidence that it can anticipate the relative similarity in focus of the methods employed, and argue that our meta-methodology reveals the possibility of identifying an ‘axial’ or ‘hub’ method of a PQR which might be particularly fruitful in exploring commonalities and differences in results. Finally, we examine the synergies and challenges of combining pairs of the methods we used