Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: Effect on Wound Healing and Traumatic Brain Injuries

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is a new form of treatment being used to heal and help improve symptoms of traumatic brain injuries, external wounds, and strokes. HBOT helps to completely saturate hemoglobin with oxygen, which then allows for a larger capacity of oxygen to be delivered to the damaged tissues. Tissue wounds benefit from this HBOT because of the increase in oxygen supply to the damaged area, helping to combat hypoxia, which is preventing proper wound healing. The increase in oxygen allows for an increase in myofibroblast differentiation to allow the healing process to continue. HBOT has also proven to increase cognitive function for post-stroke patients by increasing the amount of oxygen and energy being delivered to the brain. This therapy has also been used to treat patients with Alzheimer\u27s disease, helping to improve brain function at the cellular level

Dimeric procyanidins as modulators of airway inflammation in the context of allergic asthma : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Human Physiology at Massey University, Manawatū, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Procyanidins are polyphenolic compounds that have come to be known as biologically active in the context of promoting human health. Epidemiological evidence suggests that populations that consume diets rich in procyanidins are less susceptible to inflammatory diseases. Allergic asthma is an inflammatory lung disease with an estimated 100 million affected individuals worldwide, with New Zealand having the world’s second highest rate. Inflammation at the airway epithelium and infiltration of immune cells, specifically eosinophils, into the lung tissue are two central characteristics of allergic asthma. Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) and eotaxin isoforms, eotaxin-1 (CCL11) and eotaxin-3 (CCL26), are three biomarkers of airway inflammation produced by the epithelium. Cell culture models were successfully optimized for CCL11 and CCL26 production in A549 cells. Investigation of procyanidins effect on epithelial TSLP production was not possible because TSLP production in A549 cells was undetectable. Data suggests that dimeric A-type linked procyanidin A2, but not B-type linked procyanidin B1 or B2, is capable of inhibiting IL-4-induced CCL11 production when incubated on A549 cells prior to an inflammatory insult. Co-incubation of A549 cells with procyanidin A2 and procyanidin B2 demonstrated no evidence of a synergistic relationship for inhibiting cytokine- induced CCL11 production. Similarly, A549 cells exposed to procyanidin A2, and to a lesser extent procyanidin B2, had reduced production of cytokine-induced CCL26 production. An inhibition time course demonstrated procyanidin A2 had greatest inhibition efficacy on cytokine-induced CCL26 production when incubated for 2 h prior to an inflammatory insult. Comparison of procyanidin A2 inhibition to the known CCL26 inhibitor, IFN , demonstrated that procyanidin A2 and IFN did not share the same temporal inhibition patterns. Furthermore, experiments investigating concomitant incubation of procyanidin A2 and IFN demonstrated that procyanidin A2 could interfere with IFN –mediated CCL26 inhibition. Two possible mechanisms responsible for the procyanidin A–mediated inhibition of cytokine-induced CCL11 and CCL26 were investigated: the modulation of cytokine receptor expression, and modulation of plasma membrane fluidity. However, there was no evidence to support either of these modes of action. The data presented in this thesis collectively demonstrate the ability of procyanidin A2 to inhibit cytokine-induced eotaxin production from the lung epithelium in vitro and support further investigation of procyanidin A2 as a preventative approach for managing airway inflammation

Recruitment Research and Applicant Attraction: What Have We Learned?

Developing labor shortages are increasing the importance of recruitment to organizations. However, previous recruitment research has provided few operational guidelines for persuading high quality candidates to apply for, and to accept, job offers. This is because most recruitment research has either ignored major independent variables (e.g., vacancy characteristics), and/or focused on dependent variables other than applicant attraction or job choice (e.g., turnover). Suggestions are made for increasing the relevance of future recruitment research to applicant attraction

The Employment Interview as a Recruitment Device

[Excerpt] More directly to the point of this paper, differences in the relative importance of recruitment versus selection are hypothesized to influence the conduct, and outcomes, of the employment interview. This can occur in several ways. For example, interviewers can change either their nonverbal (e.g., body language) or verbal behaviors (e.g., time spent talking), as well as the content of what is discussed (e.g., applicant qualifications versus vacancy characteristics)

Effects of Compensation Strategy on Job Pay Decisions

Previous research has revealed wide variations in pay for the same job, even within a single locality. To date, however, the sources of such pay differentials are not well understood. The present research investigates how compensation managers from a wide variety of organizations combine infonnation about current job pay rates, market rates, and job evaluation points to arrive at new pay rates for jobs. In addition, it examines the role of two pay strategy variables (pay leadership position and external versus internal orientation) in job pay decisions, controlling for differences in organizational demographic characteristics (e.g., size, industry). Results suggest that pay strategies affect assigned pay levels, with higher pay being assigned by managers from fmns with market-leading strategies and internal pay orientations. In addition, pay strategies appear to influence the relative weights attached to market survey versus job evaluation infonnation in pay-setting for jobs. Specifically, although market survey information consistently explained more variance in assigned pay than did job evaluation, this effect was more pronounced among managers from finns having an external orientation. Organizational demographics also affected assigned pay levels, but to a lesser extent than pay strategies