The income gap reporting framework in public not-for-profit organizations: the British Museum case

The income gap is the negative margin between earned income and operating expenses: this is the main financial concern for not-for-profit entities (both public sector and nongovernmental organizations). Despite this, all over the world these entities are forced to use the standard profit-centered income statements format, with its focus on net income generation (the bottom line). This paper proposes an income statement format that uses the income gap to understand/discuss/present the financial viability of a not-for-profit entity in the arts sector, specifically a museum. We apply the framework to the British Museum's income statements from 1999-2000 to 2018-2019. This allows us to analyze institutional narratives in the context of the evolution of the museum's financial viability over two decades, and to assess the performance of the museum's neoliberal reform agenda from the end of the 1990s. Enlarging the perspective, ad hoc adaptations of the framework can allow a better understanding of the financial viability of not-for-profit organizations, in the arts sector and possibly more broadly in public services and not-for-profit sector

Standardized Patients in Occupational Therapy Education

The use of standardized patients (SPs) in occupational therapy (OT) education has greatly increased in recent years; however, there is limited research on the perceptions of student’s clinical readiness utilizing SPs and whether or not the utilization of SPs prepare students for fieldwork. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of SPs in OT education and the perceived clinical readiness of students. The use of SPs has been thoroughly researched in other healthcare related fields. It is important that the same critical attention be given to their use in our own field, which emphasizes the importance of clinical readiness in the development of future professionals. A survey was given to the OT students of Dominican University of California who have had experience with the curriculum, which utilizes SPs. Students were asked to rate their own perceptions of readiness in a number of skills, which were practiced using SPs. Students were also asked to answer qualitative questions regarding their experiences in the simulated environment with SPs. Results indicated that four common themes emerged to the perceptions on the effectiveness of SPs. The use of SPs helped implement observational skills, bring classroom information to practical experience, identified the impact of secondary health conditions/comorbidity, and had effect on student performance due to anxiety. Further studies should be conducted to support this growing area of OT education

A first assessment of genetic variability in the longhorn beetle Rosalia alpina (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) from the Italian Apennines

The Rosalia longicorn (Rosalia alpina) is a strictly protected saproxylic beetle, widely distributed in Central and Southern Europe and mainly associated with ancient beech forests. To improve knowledge about the conservation status of R. alpina in Italy, available molecular markers (microsatellites and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I(COI)) were tested for the first time on Italian populations. The study was performed in four sampling sites distributed in two areas placed in Northern (“Foreste Casentinesi” National Park) and Central Apennines (“Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise” National Park) where populational data about Rosalia longicorn were collected in the framework of the European LIFE MIPP Project. The genetic relationship among Apennine and Central/South-eastern European populations was explored by a comparison with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data from literature. Microsatellite markers were only partially informative when applied to R. alpina Italian individuals, although providing some preliminary indication on an extensive gene flow among populations from the Apennines and local ongoing processes of genetic erosion. Genetic data are consistent with previous ecological data suggesting that the maintenance of variability in this species could be related to both habitat continuity and preservation of large senescent or standing dead trees in forests. Finally, a peculiar origin of the Apennine populations of R. alpina from a putative “Glacial Refugium” in Italy was inferred through COI data. The high genetic distance scored among the analysed populations and those from Central and South-eastern Europe indicates that the R. alpina deme from Apennine Mountains might represent a relevant conservation unit in Europe. Further genetic analyses will allow assessing other possible conservation units of R. alpina and, thus, defining large-scale conservation strategies to protect this endangered longhorn beetle in Europe

Recognition and genotyping of minor germplasm of Friuli Venezia Giulia revealed high diversity

The wealth of vine varieties that used to exist in Friuli Venezia Giulia has been progressively lost. In order to ascertain the current situation regarding vine germplasm in the region, between 2001 and 2008, a wide-ranging study was conducted of recovery, conservation and molecular characterization with microsatellite markers (SSR) of accessions of minor germplasm at risk of erosion or extinction. A total of 178 accessions were analyzed and 93 varieties identified. Of these, 44 are already registered in the Italian Catalogue, 8 have been imported and are well-known foreign varieties even if not registered in the Italian Catalogue, 38 are potentially autochthonous and of these only 15 are described or at least cited in the literature; there are no hypotheses on the remaining three. In order to obtain information on possible genetic similarities, three types of software were used to process the molecular data, but only Structure allowed the existence of two principal groupings to be hypothesized for some of the presumed Friuli autochthons: one that gravitates around ‘Prosecco’ and the other around ‘Refoscone’.

Effect of sex on meat quality characteristics of Qinchuan cattle

A total of 18 Qinchuan cattle, six intact males (IM), six castrated males (CM) and six females (FM), were used to investigate the effect of sex on the physicochemical characteristics (PCC) and fatty acid (FA) composition of the Longissimus dorsi muscle (LDM). Obvious sex differences were found in the PCC of LDM: the IM group had higher shear value, pH, drip and cooking losses, and contents of ash and hydroxyproline (Hyp) than the CM and FM groups, as well as lower ether extract content and lightness. Both the IM and CM groups had lower water content and higher protein content than the FM group. Sex differences were also observed in contents of C14:0, C14:1, C18:1, saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) between the IM and both the CM and FM groups but not between the CM and FM groups. The results indicated that sex is an importantsource of differences in meat quality of Qinchuan cattle because the castration and the meat characteristics of the CM group were more similar to the FM than the IM group

Evaluation of temperature distribution for bone drilling considering aging factor

Bone drilling is a routine operation in surgeries, such as neurosurgery and orthopedics. However, the excessive drilling temperature may cause severe thermal damage to the bone tissue. Therefore, the drilling temperature determination of bone tissue can reduce the harm caused by thermal damage. A time-varying temperature field simulation model of bone drilling was set up by ABAQUS software in this paper, based on the Johnson-Cook model. Then it was validated with experiments by drilling cortical bone of fresh bovine shaft of the femur. The relative error between the experimental values and the theoretical values within 7.67% showed a good consistency. Furthermore, the aging factor is also considered to evaluate the temperature field of bone drilling. The results showed that the drilling temperature near the bone-drill area increased significantly. The drilling temperature of cortical bone decreases sharply with the radial distance and exhibits a hysteresis lag in the axial distribution. The aging factor mainly affects the peak of drilling temperature. The peak of drilling temperature tends to increase with age. The peak drilling temperature in the elderly (70y) was up to 6.8% higher than that in the young (20y), indicating that the elderly is more prone to excessive drilling temperature. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the temperature control of elderly bone tissue