Results-Based Organization Design for Technology Entrepreneurs

Faced with considerable uncertainty, entrepreneurs would benefit from clearly defined objectives, a plan to achieve these objectives (including a reasonable expectation that this plan will work), as well as a means to measure progress and make requisite course corrections. In this article, the author combines the benefits of results-based management with the benefits of organization design to describe a practical approach that technology entrepreneurs can use to design their organizations so that they deliver desired outcomes. This approach links insights from theory and practice, builds logical connections between entrepreneurial activities and desired outcomes, and measures progress toward those outcomes. This approach also provides a mechanism for entrepreneurs to make continual adjustments and improvements to their design and direction in response to data, customer and stakeholder feedback, and changes in their business environment

Increased posterior cingulate functional connectivity following 6-month high-dose B-vitamin multivitamin supplementation : a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

B vitamins are essential for optimal brain and body function, and are particularly important for cortical metabolic processes that have downstream effects on mitigating oxidative stress. Oxidative stress has been linked to poor psychological outcomes including psychological distress, which has wide-reaching implications for the community and the workplace. Given work-related stress has been associated with poor mental health outcomes, high-dose B vitamin supplementation may be effective in improving brain function and psychological outcomes via attenuation of oxidative stress. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study investigated psychological outcomes following 6-month supplementation of a high-B-vitamin multivitamin in a large sample of healthy adults (n = 108, aged 30–70 years), as well as changes in default mode network functional connectivity in a subset of the original sample (n = 28). Improvements in occupational stress, general health, perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and mood profiles were identified for both active and placebo groups over time (p < 0.05 corrected). Seed-based functional connectivity analysis centered on the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) showed that connectivity between the PCC and the caudate increased for the active treatment group, but decreased for the placebo group (p < 0.05 corrected). These findings reveal a substantial intervention effect for both active and placebo treatments, which could in part be associated with a placebo effect in subjective measures. There was, however, a significant treatment effect in the objective measure of functional connectivity, suggesting that reduced psychological stress and high-B-vitamin multivitamin supplementation may lead to an increase in DMN and caudate functional connectivity, which might reflect a strengthening of neurocircuitry within areas associated with reward and emotion at rest. Future studies should consider a placebo run-in methodology to reduce the placebo effect on the subjective measures of stress

Increased posterior cingulate functional connectivity following 6-month high-dose B-vitamin multivitamin supplementation : a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

B vitamins are essential for optimal brain and body function, and are particularly important for cortical metabolic processes that have downstream effects on mitigating oxidative stress. Oxidative stress has been linked to poor psychological outcomes including psychological distress, which has wide-reaching implications for the community and the workplace. Given work-related stress has been associated with poor mental health outcomes, high-dose B vitamin supplementation may be effective in improving brain function and psychological outcomes via attenuation of oxidative stress. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study investigated psychological outcomes following 6-month supplementation of a high-B-vitamin multivitamin in a large sample of healthy adults (n = 108, aged 30–70 years), as well as changes in default mode network functional connectivity in a subset of the original sample (n = 28). Improvements in occupational stress, general health, perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and mood profiles were identified for both active and placebo groups over time (p < 0.05 corrected). Seed-based functional connectivity analysis centered on the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) showed that connectivity between the PCC and the caudate increased for the active treatment group, but decreased for the placebo group (p < 0.05 corrected). These findings reveal a substantial intervention effect for both active and placebo treatments, which could in part be associated with a placebo effect in subjective measures. There was, however, a significant treatment effect in the objective measure of functional connectivity, suggesting that reduced psychological stress and high-B-vitamin multivitamin supplementation may lead to an increase in DMN and caudate functional connectivity, which might reflect a strengthening of neurocircuitry within areas associated with reward and emotion at rest. Future studies should consider a placebo run-in methodology to reduce the placebo effect on the subjective measures of stress

Sheep Updates 2008 - part 3

This session covers fiveteen papers from different authors: CONTROLLING FLY STRIKE 1. Breeding for Blowfly Resistance - Indicatoe Traits, LJE Karlsson, JC Greeff, L Slocombe, Department of Agriculture & Food, Western Australia 2.A practical method to select for breech strike resistance in non-pedigreed Merino flocks, LJE Karlsson, JC Greeff, L Slocombe, K. Jones, N. Underwood, Department of Agriculture & Food, Western Australia 3. Twice a year shearing - no mulesing, Fred Wilkinson, Producer, Brookton WA BEEF 4. Commercial testing of a new tool for prediction of fatness in beef cattle, WD HoffmanA, WA McKiernanA, VH OddyB, MJ McPheeA, Cooperative Research Centre for Beef Genetic Technologies, A N.S.W. Deptartment of Primary Industries, B University of New England 5. A new tool for the prediction of fatness in beef cattle, W.A. McKiernanA, V.H. OddyB and M.J. McPheeC; Cooperative Research Centre for Beef Genetic Technologies, A N.S.W. Dept of Primary Industries, B University of New England, C N.S.W. Dept of Primary Industries Beef Industry Centre of Excellence. 6. Effect of gene markers for tenderness on eating quality of beef, B.L. McIntyre, CRC for Beef Genetic Technologies, Department of Agriculture and Food WA 7. Accelerating beef industry innovation through Beef Profit Partnerships, Parnell PF1,2, Clark RA1,3, Timms J1,3, Griffith G1,2, Alford A1,2, Mulholland C1 and Hyland P1,4,1Co-operative Research Centre for Beef Genetic Technologies; 2NSW Department of Primary Industries; 3 Qld Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries; 4The University of Queensland. SUSTAINABILITY 8. The WA Sheep Industry - is it ethically and environmentally sustainable? Danielle England, Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia 9. Overview of ruminant agriculture and greenhouse emissions, Fiona Jones, Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia 10. Grazing for Nitrogen Efficiency, John Lucey, Martin Staines and Richard Morris, Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia 11. Investigating potential adaptations to climate change for low rainfall farming system, Megan Abrahams, Caroline Peek, Dennis Van Gool, Daniel Gardiner, Kari-Lee Falconer, Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia SHEEP 12. Benchmarking ewe productivity through on-farm genetic comparisons, Sandra Prosser, Mario D’Antuono and Johan Greeff; Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia 13. Increasing profitability by pregnancy scanning ewes, John Young1, Andrew Thompson2 and Chris Oldham2; 1Farming Systems Analysis Service, Kojonup, WA, 2Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia 14. Targeted treatment of worm-affected sheep - more efficient, more sustainable, Brown Besier, Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia 15. Improving Weaner Sheep Survival, Angus Campbell and Ralph Behrendt, Cooperative Research Centre for Sheep Industry Innovatio

Long Lamai community ICT4D E‐commerce system modelling: an agent oriented role‐based approach

This paper presents the post‐mortem report upon completion of the Long Lamai e‐commerce development project. Some weaknesses with regards to the current software modelling approach are identified and an alternative role‐based approach is proposed. We argue that the existing software modelling technique is not suitable for modelling, making it difficult to establish a good contract between stakeholders causing delays in the project delivery. The role‐based approach is able to explicitly highlight the responsibilities among stakeholders, while also forming the contract agreement among them leading towards sustainable ICT4D

The Effect of a High-Dose Vitamin B Multivitamin Supplement on the Relationship between Brain Metabolism and Blood Biomarkers of Oxidative Stress: A Randomized Control Trial

A diet rich in B-group vitamins is essential for optimal body and brain function, and insufficient amounts of such vitamins have been associated with higher levels of neural inflammation and oxidative stress, as marked by increased blood plasma homocysteine. Neural biomarkers of oxidative stress quantified through proton magnetic spectroscopy (1H-MRS) are not well understood, and the relationship between such neural and blood biomarkers is seldom studied. The current study addresses this gap by investigating the direct effect of 6-month high-dose B-group vitamin supplementation on neural and blood biomarkers of metabolism. Using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design, 32 healthy adults (20 female, 12 male) aged 30&#8315;65 years underwent blood tests (vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folate, and homocysteine levels) and 1H-MRS of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) before and after supplementation. Results confirmed the supplement was effective in increasing vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 levels and reducing homocysteine, whereas there was no change in folate levels. There were significant relationships between vitamin B6 and N-acetylaspartate (NAA), choline, and creatine, as well as between vitamin B12 and creatine (ps &lt; 0.05), whereas NAA in the PCC increased, albeit not significantly (p &gt; 0.05). Together these data provide preliminary evidence for the efficacy of high-dose B-group supplementation in reducing oxidative stress and inflammation through increasing oxidative metabolism. It may also promote myelination, cellular metabolism, and energy storage

Hatchery supplementation provides a demographic boost but alters age composition of sockeye salmon in Auke Lake, Southeast Alaska

Abstract Evaluating salmon hatchery supplementation programs requires assessing not only program objectives but identifying potential risks to wild populations as well. Such evaluations can be hampered by difficulty in distinguishing between hatchery‐ and wild‐born returning adults. Here, we conducted 3 years (2011–2013) of experimental hatchery supplementation of sockeye salmon in Auke Lake, Juneau, Alaska where a permanent weir allows sampling and genotyping of every returning adult (2008–2019). We identified both hatchery‐ and wild‐born returning adults with parentage assignment, quantified the productivity (adult offspring/spawner) of hatchery spawners relative to that of wild spawners, and compared run timing, age, and size at age between hatchery‐ and wild‐born adults. Hatchery‐spawning females produced from approximately six to 50 times more returning adults than did naturally spawning females. Supplementation had no discernable effect on run timing and limited consequences for size at age, but we observed a distinct shift to younger age at maturity in the hatchery‐born individuals in all three brood years. The shift appeared to be driven by hatchery‐born fish being more likely to emigrate after one, rather than two, years in the lake but the cause is unknown. In cases when spawning or incubation habitat is limiting sockeye salmon production, hatchery supplementation can be effective for enhancing the number of returning adult fish but not without the risk of phenotypic change in the recipient population, which can be an undesired outcome of hatchery supplementation. This study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that phenotypic change within a single generation of captive spawning might be widespread in salmon hatchery programs

Opportunities for reducing coagulants usage in urban water management: the Oxley Creek Sewage Collection and Treatment System as an example

Iron and aluminium based coagulants are used in enormous amounts and play an essential role in urban water management globally. They are dosed at drinking water production facilities for the removal of natural organic matter. Iron salts are also dosed to sewers for corrosion and odour control, and at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) for phosphate removal from wastewater and hydrogen sulfide removal from biogas. A recent laboratory study revealed that iron dosed to sewers is available for phosphate and hydrogen sulfide removal in the downstream WWTP. This study demonstrates for the first time under real-life conditions the practical feasibility and effectiveness of the strategy through a year-long full-scale investigation. Over a period of 5 months, alum dosing at ∼190 kg Al/day to the bioreactor in a full-scale WWTP was stopped, while FeCl dosing at ∼160 kg Fe/day in the upstream network was commenced. Extensive sampling campaigns were conducted over the baseline, trial and recovery periods to investigate sulfide control in sewers and its flow-on effects on phosphate in WWTP effluent, HS in biogas, as well as on the WWTP effluent hypochlorite disinfection process. A plant-wide mass balance analysis showed that the Fe dosed upstream was effectively used for P removal in the activated sludge tanks, with an effluent phosphate concentration comparable to that in the baseline period (i.e. with alum dosing to the bioreactor). Simultaneously, hydrogen sulfide concentration in biogas decreased ∼43%, from 495 ± 10 to 283 ± 4 ppm. No effects on biological nitrogen removal and disinfection processes were observed. Both effluent phosphate and HS in biogas increased in the recovery period, when in-sewer dosing of FeCl was stopped. X-ray diffraction failed to reveal the presence of vivianite in the digested sludge, providing strong evidence that thermal hydrolysis prevented the formation of vivianite during anaerobic digestion. The latter limits the potential for selective recovery of Fe and P through magnetic separation. Overall, our study clearly demonstrates the multiple beneficial reuse of iron in a real urban wastewater system and urges water utilities to adopt an integrated approach to coagulant use in urban water management