Fossils and farmers

The West Australian Museum is looking for fossil remains from the Pleistocene age, the period of geological time when Europe was covered with ice. Little is known of what the Australian continent was like at that time, and the Museum hopes, by collecting as many fossil remains as possible, to get a better picture of Australian conditions at that time. It is also hoped to discover more about the ancestors of our present marsupial fauna. Farmers may be able to make a valuable contribution to the present knowledge of this period by forwarding suspected fossil remains to the Museum. Here the Museum\u27s acting Curator of Palaentology, Mr. D. Merrilees (B.Sc.) tells what to look for

Fossils and farmers. 2. The ice age

What did the giant Australian marsupials of the Ice Age look like? Fossil remains found by farmers could help reconstruct them, as well as giving some idea of conditions on the Australian continent at that time, says D. Merrilees, B.Sc, acting Curator of Palaeontology at the West Australian Museum

The role of staff engagement in facilitating staff-led value co-creation

YesThe study extends customer-led co-creation research to the related staff-led value co-creation domain. In particular, the purpose of the study is to investigate the role of staff engagement as a facilitator of staff-led value co-creation. Design/methodology/approach: A new conceptual framework develops a model of staff-led value-creation, using three types of staff-led co-creation. A quantitative approach is used. Survey collection yielded a sample of 1165 employees in an Australian not-for-profit context across nineteen organizations. AMOS SEM (Structural Equation Modelling) analyzes the data. Findings: A major finding is the nexus between staff engagement and staff-led value co-creation. The nexus applies for three types of staff-led co-creation and three staff categories. Different explanatory mechanisms apply to each type of staff-led value co-creation. Research Limitations/implications: The not-for-profit context may not generalize to the for-profit sector, but future research could clarify this matter. Practical implications: The results can inform organizations wishing to create greater service contributions through greater staff participation, which can include a staff-initiating (staff-led) role. Different value co-creation targets require different corporate triggers, reflecting the different explanatory mechanisms of each co-creation type. Social Implications: The not-for-profit context provides major social implications. Originality/value: The emphasis on staff-led value co-creation augments the customer-led co-creation literature. Additionally, exploring the (staff) engagement to (staff) value co-creation nexus is a novel contribution

Changes in elastin, elastin binding protein and versican in alveoli in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>COPD is characterised by loss of alveolar elastic fibers and by lack of effective repair. Elastic fibers are assembled at cell surfaces by elastin binding protein (EBP), a molecular chaperone whose function can be reversibility inhibited by chondroitin sulphate of matrix proteoglycans such as versican. This study aimed to determine if alveoli of patients with mild to moderate COPD contained increased amounts of versican and a corresponding decrease in EBP, and if these changes were correlated with decreases in elastin and FEV₁.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Lung samples were obtained from 26 control (FEV₁≥ 80% predicted, FEV₁/VC >0.7) and 17 COPD patients (FEV₁≥ 40% – <80% predicted, FEV₁/VC ≤ 0.7) who had undergone a lobectomy for bronchial carcinoma. Samples were processed for histological and immuno-staining. Volume fractions (<it>V</it>_v) of elastin in alveolar walls and alveolar rims were determined by point counting, and versican and EBP assessed by grading of staining intensities.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Elastin <it>V</it>v was positively correlated with FEV₁for both the alveolar walls (r = 0.66, p < 0.001) and rims (r = 0.41, p < 0.01). Versican was negatively correlated with FEV₁in both regions (r = 0.30 and 0.32 respectively, p < 0.05), with the highest staining intensities found in patients with the lowest values for FEV₁. Conversely, staining intensities for EBP in alveolar walls and rims and were positively correlated with FEV₁(r = 0.43 and 0.46, p < 0.01).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Patients with mild to moderate COPD show progressively increased immuno-staining for versican and correspondingly decreased immuno-staining for EBP, with decreasing values of FEV₁. These findings may explain the lack of repair of elastic fibers in the lungs of patients with moderate COPD. Removal of versican may offer a strategy for effective repair.</p

Complexity of Risk: Mixed-Methods Approach to Understanding Youth Risk and Insecurity in Postconflict Settings

In settings of intergroup conflict, identifying contextually relevant risk factors for youth development is an important task. In Vukovar, Croatia, a city devastated during the war in former Yugoslavia, ethno-political tensions remain. The current study utilized a mixed-methods approach to identify two salient community-level risk factors (ethnic tension and general antisocial behavior) and related emotional insecurity responses (ethnic and nonethnic insecurity) among youth in Vukovar. In Study 1, focus group discussions (N = 66) with mothers, fathers, and adolescents of age 11 to 15 years old were analyzed using the constant comparative method, revealing two types of risk and insecurity responses. In Study 2, youth (N = 227, 58% male, M = 15.88, SD = 1.12 years) responded to quantitative scales developed from the focus groups, discriminate validity was demonstrated, and path analyses established predictive validity between each type of risk and insecurity. First, community ethnic tension (i.e., threats related to war/ethnic identity) significantly predicted ethnic insecurity for all youth (β = .41, p < .001). Second, experience with community antisocial behavior (i.e., general crime found in any context) predicted nonethnic community insecurity for girls (β = .32, p < .05) but not for boys. These findings are the first to show multiple forms of emotional insecurity at the community level; implications for future research are discussed

Dementia Caregiver Burden: A Research Update and Critical Analysis

Purpose of Review: This article provides an updated review of the determinants of caregiver burden and depression, with a focus on care demands and especially the differential effects of various neuropsychiatric symptoms or symptom clusters. Moreover, studies on caregivers for frontotemporal and Lewy body dementias were referred to in order to identify differences and similarities with the mainstream literature based largely on Alzheimer caregivers. Recent Findings: As a group, neuropsychiatric symptoms are most predictive of caregiver burden and depression regardless of dementia diagnosis, but the effects appear to be driven primarily by disruptive behaviors (e.g., agitation, aggression, disinhibition), followed by delusions and mood disturbance. Disruptive behaviors are more disturbing partly because of the adverse impact on the emotional connection between the caregiver and the care-recipient and partly because they exacerbate difficulties in other domains (e.g., caring for activities of daily living). In behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, not only are these disruptive behaviors more prominent but they are also more disturbing due to the care-recipient’s insensitivity to others’ feelings. In Lewy body dementia, visual hallucinations also appear to be distressing. Summary: The disturbing nature of disruptive behaviors cuts across dementia conditions, but the roles played by symptoms that are unique or particularly serious in a certain condition need to be explored further

Identity and destination branding among residents: How does brand self-congruity influence brand attitude and ambassadorial behavior?

Residents of a particular destination are potentially the largest and most powerful stakeholders of destination brands. However, the basis of residents' attitudes toward destination branding is not widely understood. In this study, it is proposed that selfcongruity (the degree of match between the perceived self and perceived brand identity) is a possible antecedent of these attitudes. We empirically demonstrate that brand self‐congruity is a likely indicator of destination brand attitude and that subsequent ambassadorial behavior among residents is probable. Implications for practitioners and future research opportunities are finally suggested

Endogenous laminin is required for human airway smooth muscle cell maturation

BACKGROUND: Airway smooth muscle (ASM) contraction underlies acute bronchospasm in asthma. ASM cells can switch between a synthetic-proliferative phenotype and a contractile phenotype. While the effects of extracellular matrix (ECM) components on modulation of ASM cells to a synthetic phenotype have been reported, the role of ECM components on maturation of ASM cells to a contractile phenotype in adult lung is unclear. As both changes in ECM components and accumulation of contractile ASM are features of airway wall remodelling in asthma, we examined the role of the ECM protein, laminin, in the maturation of contractile phenotype in human ASM cells. METHODS: Human ASM cells were made senescence-resistant by stable expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase. Maturation to a contractile phenotype was induced by 7-day serum deprivation, as assessed by immunoblotting for desmin and calponin. The role of laminin on ASM maturation was investigated by comparing the effects of exogenous laminin coated on culture plates, and of soluble laminin peptide competitors. Endogenous expression of laminin chains during ASM maturation was also measured. RESULTS: Myocyte binding to endogenously expressed laminin was required for ASM phenotype maturation, as laminin competing peptides (YIGSR or GRGDSP) significantly reduced desmin and calponin protein accumulation that otherwise occurs with prolonged serum deprivation. Coating of plastic cell culture dishes with different purified laminin preparations was not sufficient to further promote accumulation of desmin or calponin during 7-day serum deprivation. Expression of α2, β1 and γ1 laminin chains by ASM cells was specifically up-regulated during myocyte maturation, suggesting a key role for laminin-2 in the development of the contractile phenotype. CONCLUSION: While earlier reports suggest exogenously applied laminin slows the spontaneous modulation of ASM to a synthetic phenotype, we show for the first time that endogenously expressed laminin is required for ASM maturation to the contractile phenotype. As endogenously expressed laminin chains α2, β1 and γ1 are uniquely increased during myocyte maturation, these laminin chains may be key in this process. Thus, human ASM maturation appears to involve regulated endogenous expression of a select set of laminin chains that are essential for accumulation of contractile phenotype myocytes

The New Economy and New Business Models

This chapter tackles the definition of New Economy, its main elements and its transformation, a theoretical perspective, the economics of digital information; negligible marginal costs, network externalities and barriers and enablers of business model change. Digital Business Models; origins, concept, guidelines to develop a consensus for the business models and Digital Business Models best practices identified are also outlined. The chapter draws to a close with the key information regarding the main characteristics for E-Business Environment: generic e-Business Strategies, new Strategies for E-Organizations and new Digital Business Models for E-Organizations.2019-2