Interpersonal Skills in Aviation: Applications and Development

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the critical role that interpersonal skills play in the aviation environment. Many volumes have been written on the matter and it is not our intention here to review every research endeavour in interpersonal skills and aviation but rather to provide an overview of some of the more important research, drawing out the implications for aviation management. The paper is organized in the following manner: We first examine what interpersonal skills are and why they are important in aviation. This is followed by an examination of the literature on interpersonal skills in selection (pilots, air traffic controllers), which in turn is followed by interpersonal skills and training, especially in Crew Resource Management (CRM). The paper concludes with practical suggestions regarding interpersonal skill development

Embedded motivational interviewing combined with a smartphone app to increase physical activity in people with sub-acute low back pain: study protocol of a cluster randomised control trial

Background: Motivational Interviewing is an evidence-based, client-centred counselling technique that has been used effectively to increase physical activity, including for people with low back pain. One barrier to implementing Motivational Interviewing in health care settings more broadly is the extra treatment time with therapists. The aim of this paper is to describe the design of a cluster randomised controlled trial evaluating the effect of an intervention that pairs Motivational Interviewing embedded into usual physiotherapy care with a specifically designed app to increase physical activity in people with sub-acute low back pain. Methods: The study is a cluster randomised controlled in which patients aged over 18 years who have sub-acute low back pain (3–12 weeks duration) are recruited from four public hospital outpatient clinics. Based on the recruitment site, participants either receive usual physiotherapy care or the Motivational Interviewing intervention over 6 consecutive weekly outpatient sessions with a specifically designed app designed to facilitate participant-led physical activity behaviour change in between sessions. Outcome measures assessed at baseline and 7 weeks are: physical activity as measured by accelerometer (primary outcome), and pain-related activity restriction and pain self-efficacy (secondary outcomes). Postintervention interviews with physiotherapists and participants will be conducted as part of a process evaluation. Discussion: This intervention, which comprises trained physiotherapists conducting conversations about increasing physical activity with their patients in a manner consistent with Motivational Interviewing as part of usual care combined with a specifically designed app, has potential to facilitate behaviour change with minimal extra therapist time

P092 improving postgraduate psychology students’ sleep and insomnia knowledge with a sleep education workshop

Abstract Introduction Trainee psychologists receive limited sleep and insomnia education during postgraduate study. This study examined the delivery of a sleep psychology training workshop for postgraduate psychology students and examined changes in sleep knowledge from pre- to post-workshop. Methods A 6-hour Sleep Psychology Workshop was delivered to postgraduate psychology students around Victoria. Online pre- and post-workshop questionnaires were used to evaluate changes in sleep psychology knowledge and collect feedback on the workshop. Results The participants were 187 students (82% female, M age = 32), most of whom were in their 5th year of psychology training (69%) and had not received any sleep education during their postgraduate studies at the date of the intervention (77%). Students’ sleep knowledge significantly improved after workshop completion (pre: 56% vs. post: 80% correct), t(107)= -21.41, p < .001. Students provided positive feedback about the workshop, with 96% rating the workshop as excellent/very good and 86% reporting that they would recommend the workshop to other postgraduate students. Overall, 94% of students agreed/strongly agreed that the sleep psychology workshop improved their confidence to manage sleep disturbances in their future psychology practice. Discussion Postgraduate psychology students require sleep and insomnia education. This study demonstrates that students’ sleep psychology knowledge can improve after a 6-hour sleep education and training workshop and provides initial positive feedback about the benefits of sleep and insomnia education for postgraduate students

Crispr/Cas9 editing reveals novel mechanisms of clustered microRNA regulation and function

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of diverse physiological and pathophysiological processes. MiRNA families and clusters are two key features in miRNA biology. Here we explore the use of CRISPR/Cas9 as a powerful tool to delineate the function and regulation of miRNA families and clusters. We focused on four miRNA clusters composed of miRNA members of the same family, homoclusters or different families, hetero-clusters. Our results highlight different regulatory mechanisms in miRNA cluster expression. In the case of the miR-497~195 cluster, editing of miR-195 led to a significant decrease in the expression of the other miRNA in the cluster, miR-497a. Although no gene editing was detected in the miR-497a genomic locus, computational simulation revealed alteration in the three dimensional structure of the pri miR-497~195 that may affect its processing. In cluster miR- 143~145 our results imply a feed-forward regulation, although structural changes cannot be ruled out. Furthermore, in the miR-17~92 and miR-106~25 clusters no interdependency in miRNA expression was observed. Our findings suggest that CRISPR/Cas9 is a powerful gene editing tool that can uncover novel mechanisms of clustered miRNA regulation and function

Crispr/Cas9 gene editing reveals novel tertiary constraints in clustered mirna processing

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in the cellular function. They often form families, with members sharing high sequence homology, a property that hampers miRNA research as there is a lack of elegant tools for specific miRNA manipulation

Crispr/Cas9 editing reveals novel mechanisms of clustered microRNA regulation and function

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of diverse physiological and pathophysiological processes. MiRNA families and clusters are two key features in miRNA biology. Here we explore the use of CRISPR/Cas9 as a powerful tool to delineate the function and regulation of miRNA families and clusters. We focused on four miRNA clusters composed of miRNA members of the same family, homoclusters or different families, hetero-clusters. Our results highlight different regulatory mechanisms in miRNA cluster expression. In the case of the miR-497~195 cluster, editing of miR-195 led to a significant decrease in the expression of the other miRNA in the cluster, miR-497a. Although no gene editing was detected in the miR-497a genomic locus, computational simulation revealed alteration in the three dimensional structure of the pri miR-497~195 that may affect its processing. In cluster miR- 143~145 our results imply a feed-forward regulation, although structural changes cannot be ruled out. Furthermore, in the miR-17~92 and miR-106~25 clusters no interdependency in miRNA expression was observed. Our findings suggest that CRISPR/Cas9 is a powerful gene editing tool that can uncover novel mechanisms of clustered miRNA regulation and function

Foxd1-dependent induction of a temporal retinal character is required for visual function

Appropriate patterning of the retina during embryonic development is assumed to underlie the establishment of spatially localised specialisations that mediate the perception of specific visual features. For example, in zebrafish, an area involved in high acuity vision (HAA) is thought to be present in the ventro-temporal retina. Here, we show that the interplay of the transcription factor Rx3 with Fibroblast Growth Factor and Hedgehog signals initiates and restricts foxd1 expression to the prospective temporal retina, initiating naso-temporal regionalisation of the retina. Abrogation of Foxd1 results in the loss of temporal and expansion of nasal retinal character, and consequent absence of the HAA. These structural defects correlate with severe visual defects, as assessed in optokinetic and optomotor response assays. In contrast, optokinetic responses are unaffected in the opposite condition, in which nasal retinal character is lost at the expense of expanded temporal character. Our study indicates that the establishment of temporal retinal character during early retinal development is required for the specification of the HAA, and suggests a prominent role of the temporal retina in controlling specific visual functions

Global maps of soil temperature

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2&nbsp;m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km2 resolution for 0\u20135 and 5\u201315&nbsp;cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e. offset) between in situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km2 pixels (summarized from 8519 unique temperature sensors) across all the world's major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10\ub0C (mean&nbsp;=&nbsp;3.0&nbsp;\ub1&nbsp;2.1\ub0C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6&nbsp;\ub1&nbsp;2.3\ub0C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler ( 120.7&nbsp;\ub1&nbsp;2.3\ub0C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications

Global maps of soil temperature.

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km &lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; resolution for 0-5 and 5-15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e. offset) between in situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km &lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; pixels (summarized from 8519 unique temperature sensors) across all the world's major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (-0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications

Global maps of soil temperature

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km² resolution for 0–5 and 5–15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e., offset) between in-situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km² pixels (summarized from 8500 unique temperature sensors) across all the world’s major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (-0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in-situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications