Measuring Inflation Expectations in the Euro Area

This article provides an overview of the main measures of expectations for the euro area and outlines the caveats that must be taken into account when analysing each one.

Introduction- strategic HRM: research and practice in Ireland

This piece is the Introduction to "Introduction- strategic HRM: research and practice in Ireland

Strategic HRM. Research and practice in Ireland

This brief introduction will set the context for this book while also providing an overview of the various chapters. It is now some fi fteen years since Roche et al.’s (1998) edited volume explored strategic human resource management (SHRM) in Ireland from a research-based perspective. The intervening years have seen a signifi cant increase in SHRM research by Irish scholars, coupled with the proliferation of specialist undergraduate and masters’ level SHRM programmes (Carbery et al., 2013). In terms of the human resource (HR) profession in Ireland, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has witnessed a dramatic 80 per cent increase in membership since the 1980s. These developments highlight the necessity for continuous theoretical refl ection and empirical scrutiny of SHRM practice. The purpose of this book is to provide an integrated overview of both theory and evidence of the practice of strategic HRM in an Irish context. Broadly understood, SHRM involves a focus on linking human resource management (HRM) to business strategy, designing high performance work systems (HPWSs) and adding value through good people management in an attempt to gain sustained competitive advantage (Boselie, 2010; Delery and Doty, 1996). At the same time, SHRM is subject to multiple interpretations and sometimes contested meanings. This book therefore aims to provide empirically informed insights to illuminate current thinking around SHRM, including a critical analysis of its relevance, application and development in an Irish context. Reflecting the richness, diversity and breadth of SHRM expertise in Ireland, the book draws on the insights of twenty-one contributors representing some nine different institutions. In so doing, we believe it will prove an invaluable resource for undergraduates specialising in SHRM and masters’ students requiring up-to-date knowledge about people management practices and processes, while also serving as a reflective resource for experienced executives

Conceptualising collaborative processes in university research centres

In the context of a knowledge-based agenda understanding the dynamics of the collaborative process between universities and industry becomes critical. This paper develops an analytical framework for examining the processes underpinning the collaborative capabilities of University Research Centres (URCs). Drawing on the lens of collaborative communities, this multi-level framework provides a useful basis for understanding in more detail the unique motives, relational dynamics and negotiated orders informing and shaping the formation and sustenance of research collaboration in URCs. Implications for the management of scientific and technical (S&T) human capital are discussed

University research scientists as knowledge workers: contract status and employment opportunities

University research scientists epitomise knowledge workers who are positioned to avail of the employment conditions associated with ‘boundaryless careers’. Yet while employment flexibility has been hailed as a positive feature of knowledge work, relatively little is known about the forms such flexibility may take or its impact. This article considers the factors shaping the employment conditions of 40 research scientists working in five university research centres in Ireland. The findings suggest that, for knowledge workers such as research scientists, contract employment can deny them access to many of the employment conditions and opportunities that govern their long-term success as researchers

Examining the Effect of Biochar on Invasive Typha x glauca in a Greenhouse Experiment

Invasive species in the Great Lakes pose ecological, economic, and social dilemmas as they alter and diminish the quality of ecosystems. By dominating native plant communities through efficient uptake of excess nutrients, the hybrid cattail, Typha × glauca, reduces the plant diversity of Great Lakes coastal wetlands, homogenizing habitat for many species of fish, animals, and insects. This study investigated how biochar, a charcoal-like substance, affected biomass accumulation in hybrid cattails and native wetland plants. I conducted a greenhouse experiment by growing assemblages of native wetland plants, Typha × glauca, and a combination of both native species and hybrid cattails in separate buckets with a homogenized, sand-compost mixture containing 0%, 2.5%, and 5% biochar by weight for approximately fifty days. I found that biochar reduced the overall biomass of Typha × glauca when comparing the 2.5% and 5% biochar applications to the 0% application. Biochar was also found to change the phosphorus content in Typha × glauca, a nutrient which is often found in excess in wetlands due to agricultural pollution. This preliminary study provides evidence that biochar has the potential to reduce the biomass of Typha × glauca, therefore impeding its dominance in Great Lakes coastal wetlands

LPS-TLR4 Signaling to IRF-3/7 and NF-κB Involves the Toll Adapters TRAM and TRIF

Toll–IL-1–resistance (TIR) domain–containing adaptor-inducing IFN-β (TRIF)–related adaptor molecule (TRAM) is the fourth TIR domain–containing adaptor protein to be described that participates in Toll receptor signaling. Like TRIF, TRAM activates interferon regulatory factor (IRF)-3, IRF-7, and NF-κB-dependent signaling pathways. Toll-like receptor (TLR)3 and 4 activate these pathways to induce IFN-α/β, regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), and γ interferon–inducible protein 10 (IP-10) expression independently of the adaptor protein myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88). Dominant negative and siRNA studies performed here demonstrate that TRIF functions downstream of both the TLR3 (dsRNA) and TLR4 (LPS) signaling pathways, whereas the function of TRAM is restricted to the TLR4 pathway. TRAM interacts with TRIF, MyD88 adaptor–like protein (Mal)/TIRAP, and TLR4 but not with TLR3. These studies suggest that TRIF and TRAM both function in LPS-TLR4 signaling to regulate the MyD88-independent pathway during the innate immune response to LPS

Radical chemistry and ozone production at a UK coastal receptor site

OH, HO2, total and partially speciated RO2, and OH reactivity (kOH′) were measured during the July 2015 ICOZA (Integrated Chemistry of OZone in the Atmosphere) project that took place at a coastal site in north Norfolk, UK. Maximum measured daily OH, HO2 and total RO2 radical concentrations were in the range 2.6–17 × 106, 0.75–4.2 × 108 and 2.3–8.0 × 108 molec. cm−3, respectively. kOH′ ranged from 1.7 to 17.6 s−1, with a median value of 4.7 s−1. ICOZA data were split by wind direction to assess differences in the radical chemistry between air that had passed over the North Sea (NW–SE sectors) and that over major urban conurbations such as London (SW sector). A box model using the Master Chemical Mechanism (MCMv3.3.1) was in reasonable agreement with the OH measurements, but it overpredicted HO2 observations in NW–SE air in the afternoon by a factor of ∼ 2–3, although slightly better agreement was found for HO2 in SW air (factor of ∼ 1.4–2.0 underprediction). The box model severely underpredicted total RO2 observations in both NW–SE and SW air by factors of ∼ 8–9 on average. Measured radical and kOH′ levels and measurement–model ratios displayed strong dependences on NO mixing ratios, with the results suggesting that peroxy radical chemistry is not well understood under high-NOx conditions. The simultaneous measurement of OH, HO2, total RO2 and kOH′ was used to derive experimental (i.e. observationally determined) budgets for all radical species as well as total ROx (i.e. OH + HO2 + RO2). In NW–SE air, the ROx budget could be closed during the daytime within experimental uncertainty, but the rate of OH destruction exceeded the rate of OH production, and the rate of HO2 production greatly exceeded the rate of HO2 destruction, while the opposite was true for RO2. In SW air, the ROx budget analysis indicated missing daytime ROx sources, but the OH budget was balanced, and the same imbalances were found with the HO2 and RO2 budgets as in NW–SE air. For HO2 and RO2, the budget imbalances were most severe at high-NO mixing ratios, and the best agreement between HO2 and RO2 rates of production and destruction rates was found when the RO2 + NO rate coefficient was reduced by a factor of 5. A photostationary-steady-state (PSS) calculation underpredicted daytime OH in NW–SE air by ∼ 35 %, whereas agreement (∼ 15 %) was found within instrumental uncertainty (∼ 26 % at 2σ) in SW air. The rate of in situ ozone production (P(Ox)) was calculated from observations of ROx, NO and NO2 and compared to that calculated from MCM-modelled radical concentrations. The MCM-calculated P(Ox) significantly underpredicted the measurement-calculated P(Ox) in the morning, and the degree of underprediction was found to scale with NO.</p

Binding of C4b-binding protein: A molecular mechanism of serum resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae

We screened 29 strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and found 16/21 strains that resisted killing by normal human serum and 0/8 serum sensitive strains that bound the complement regulator, C4b-binding protein (C4bp). Microbial surface-bound C4bp demonstrated cofactor activity. We constructed gonococcal strains with hybrid porin (Por) molecules derived from each of the major serogroups (Por1A and Por1B) of N. gonorrhoeae, and showed that the loop 1 of Por1A is required for C4bp binding. Por1B loops 5 and 7 of serum-resistant gonococci together formed a negatively charged C4bp-binding domain. C4bp-Por1B interactions were ionic in nature (inhibited by high salt or by heparin), whereas the C4bp-Por1A bond was hydrophobic. Only recombinant C4bp mutant molecules containing the NH2-terminal alpha-chain short consensus repeat (SCR1) bound to both Por1A and Por1B gonococci, suggesting that SCR1 contained Por binding sites. C4bp alpha-chain monomers did not bind gonococci, indicating that the polymeric form of C4bp was required for binding. Using fAb fragments against C4bp SCR1, C4bp binding to Por1A and Por1B strains was inhibited in a complement-dependent serum bactericidal assay. This resulted in complete killing of these otherwise fully serum resistant strains in only 10% normal serum, underscoring the importance of C4bp in mediating gonococcal serum resistance