Recasting Economics as if the Climate and Global Ecology Really Mattered

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Ion channels as therapeutic targets in high grade gliomas

Abstract: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a lethal brain cancer with an average survival of 14-15 months with maximal treatment. High grade gliomas (HGG) form a leading cause of CNS cancer-related death in children and adults due to the aggressive nature of the tumour and limited treatment options. The scarcity of treatment available for GBM has opened the field to new modalities such as electrotherapy. Previous studies have identified the clinical benefit of electrotherapy in combination with chemotherapeutics, however the mechanistic action is unclear. Increasing evidence indicates that not only are ion channels key in regulating electrical signaling and membrane potential of excitable cells, they perform a crucial role in the development and neoplastic progression of brain tumours. Unlike other tissue types, neural tissue is intrinsically electrically active and reliant on ion channels and their function. Ion channels are essential in cell cycle control, invasion and migration of cancer cells and therefore present as valuable therapeutic targets. This review aims to discuss the role that ion channels hold in gliomagenesis and whether we can target and exploit these channels to provide new therapeutic targets and whether ion channels hold the mechanistic key to the newfound success of electrotherapies

Prevalence, patterning, and predictors of health- and climate-relevant lifestyles in the UK: A cross-sectional study of travel and dietary behaviour in two national datasets

Background: Rising rates of chronic disease, combined with the threat of climate change, have increased the need to promote healthy, low-carbon (HLC) lifestyles globally. Nevertheless, most research in this area has focused on single behaviours in isolation, at the expense of understanding these lifestyles more broadly. This thesis aims to advance current knowledge of the patterning, prevalence, and predictors of health- and climate-relevant lifestyles in the UK, based on combinations of travel and dietary behaviour. Methods: Two datasets, the National Diet and Nutrition Survey and UK Biobank, were used to explore this aim. Walking, cycling and public transport use were considered forms of HLC travel; lower consumption of red and processed meat (RPM), combined with higher consumption of fruit and vegetables (FV) were considered markers of a HLC diet. Study 1 examined associations between travel modes and dietary consumption. Study 2 estimated the prevalence of different health- and climate-relevant lifestyles using latent class models to identify unique patterns of travel and dietary behaviour. Study 3 explored which socio-demographic factors and types of influences were associated with each lifestyle pattern. Analyses were stratified by gender and findings were compared across both datasets. Results: HLC travel, particularly cycling, was associated with consumption of higher FV and lower RPM. More car travel tended to cluster with higher RPM consumption, and much of the samples (47-80%) had multiple unhealthy, high-carbon (UHC) behaviours. Entirely HLC lifestyles were rare (2-5%) but a sizable minority had lifestyles that were predominantly or partially HLC. UHC lifestyles were socio-demographically diverse, but HLC lifestyles were consistently associated with higher qualifications, reduced car access, and living in urban settlements, more deprived areas, and in London. Conclusions: HLC and UHC behaviours both cluster to some degree, which suggests that each lifestyle pattern may be driven by common influences. Socio-economic and environmental factors were the most important predictors of HLC lifestyles. These findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of health- and climate-relevant behaviours in the UK and give greater insights into the full impacts of people’s lifestyles

Impact of delayed nitrogen application in grain sorghum

A majority of grain sorghum production occurs in the central to north west portion of Oklahoma, where the average annual rainfall is at or below 900 mm and precipitation events become less frequent. The environment conditions associated with this region has resulted in yields being highly variable. This variability makes input management a challenge. One of the primary challenges is N fertilization, not only because it is one of the costliest inputs but determining optimum application rates in these conditions can be challenging. Being able to delay the investments of inputs such as N until crop status and final yield potential is better understood in-season could increase crop NUE. In 2006 Oklahoma State University released a Sensor Based Nitrogen Rate Calculator (SBRNC) for grain sorghum. The SBNRC uses in-season NDVI values from the crop and a N rich strip to predict final grain yield and optimum fertilizer N rate. This technique often requires the crop to experience some degree of N deficiency prior to N to application. The objective of this study is to determine the impact of delaying N application after the onset of N deficiencies and the crops ability to recover. In 2019 growing season this study was conducted at three locations in Oklahoma. Two trials were located at Lake Carl Blackwell Research Farm near Perry OK, and one trail at the Cimarron Valley Research Station near Perkins, OK. Three N rates were applied depending upon the yield potential at each location, LCB1 100 kg ha-1, LCB2 134 kg ha-1, Perkins 90 kg ha-1. In 2020 all locations received 100 kg ha-1 N and included a fourth location on a privately own farm (KMF) near Alva, OK. Using ammonium nitrate as the source of nitrogen, only one treatment received pre-plant N all other treatments except for the un-fertilized check received all N in-season. In 2019 initial side dress application was to begin at first sight of visual difference, a difference between the pre-plant and non-fertilized (check) or 28 days after planting (DAP), while in 2020 first application was moved to 21 DAP. Once side-dressing was initiated one treatment received N every seven days until 70 days after the first application for a total of 10 side-dress application timings

A Strategic Audit of Hasbro

This strategic audit dives into ten components of Hasbro’s strategic management. The first component discusses Hasbro’s history and current strategic leadership. This is followed by an analysis of the impacts of its external and internal environment. Next, the audit examines Hasbro’s recent performance and competition it faces in the Toy Wholesaling industry. The sixth, seventh, and eighth components consider different levels of strategy that Hasbro pursues. Lastly, the strategic audit considers Hasbro’s corporate governance and its organizational structure and controls. Overall, we conclude that Hasbro is a mature company in a slow-growing industry. Its ability to translate its iconic and well-known brands from toys to online games and TV shows provides a source of competitive advantage that allows it to differentiate itself from competitors. However, Hasbro faces stiff competition from Mattel, which has seen higher profit margins and stronger financial results recently

Effect of Oral Rinsing with Pre-Workout on Cycling Time Trial Performance

There is evidence that oral rinsing with a carbohydrate solution can have similar effects on aerobic performance compared to consuming the beverage, but less is known of sugar-free and pre-workout beverages. PURPOSE: to examine the effects of oral rinsing with a pre-workout supplement on aerobic performance. METHODS: After recording age (32.4±12.1 yrs), height (173.2±11.2 cm), and weight (76.8±14.8 kg), eleven participants rinsed 10 sec with either 2.5 oz. of carbohydrate (CHO), sugar-free pre-workout (PWO), or a sugar-free placebo (CN) beverage. Participants were interfaced with a metabolic analyzer and resting measurements were collected after two minutes. Participants then cycled for 5 minutes on a stationary bike as a warm up, with load being adjusted to reach 70% of max heart rate. Participants then rode for 15 minutes at this intensity after which they received a five minute break followed by another 10 second oral rinse of the same solution. This was followed by a time trial, which consisted of 15 minutes on the bike at maximum intensity. This was a counter-balanced, repeated-measures design where participants performed the trials no fewer than two days and no more than seven days apart. Repeated measures ANOVA were used to determine differences in performances and physiological responses between trials, with Alpha set at .05 for all tests. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in distance during the time trial between CHO (7.7±1.2 km), PWO (7.6±1.4 km), and CN (7.4±1.2), F(2,9)=0.95, P=.419. There was also no significant difference in VO2 during the time trial between CHO (2.02±0.58 L/min), PWO (1.94±0.58 L/min), and CN (2.29±1.29 L/min), F(2,9) = 1.0, P=.388, as well as heart rate between CHO (155.6±18.2 b/min), PWO (152.6±19.8 b/min), and CN (150.3±19.1 b/min), F(2,9)=1.5, P=.260. Finally, there was no significant difference in RPE between CHO (14.0±2.6), PWO (13.6±2.3), and CN (13.6±2.1), F(2,9)=.23, P=.797. CONCLUSION: The results of the study suggest that oral rinsing does not enhance performance on a 15-min cycling time trial. For a short, acute bout of intense aerobic exercise, oral rinsing with a CHO or PWO drink will not provide any benefit

Phrases in literary contexts: patterns and distributions of suspensions in Dickens’s novels

This paper addresses relations between lexico-grammatical patterns and texts. Our focus is on a specific linguistic unit, the ‘suspended quotation’ (or ‘suspension’), which has received particular attention in Dickens studies. The suspended quotation refers to an interruption of a fictional character’s speech by the narrator with a sequence of at least five words. We show how corpus linguistic methods can help to systematically study suspensions in a corpus of Dickens’s novels: we investigate relationships between patterns of body language presentation and suspensions; we consider the distribution of suspensions across novels; and we illustrate how patterns in suspensions relate to meanings of reporting verbs. Overall, we argue that suspensions are discernible units that contribute to meaningful patterns in narrative prose