Does perception of automation undermine pro-environmental behaviour? Findings from three everyday settings

The global deployment of technology to aid mitigation of climate change has great potential but the realisation of much of this potential depends on behavioural response. A culturally pervasive reliance on and belief in technology raises the risk that dependence on technology will hamper human actions of mitigation. Theory suggests that ‘green’ behaviour may be undermined by automated technology but empirical investigation has been lacking. We examined the effect of the prospect of automation on three everyday behaviours with environmental impact. Based on evidence from observational and experimental studies, we demonstrated that the prospect of automation can undermine even simple actions for sustainability. Further, we examined the process by which automated technology influences behaviour and suggest that automation may impair personal responsibility for action

Józef Borodzicz, Na rusi gallicyjskiej Schyzma sie gotuje, Drukar Maryi Ziembińskiej, Chrzanowie, 1911.

Several research studies have argued that people evaluate incivilities of places as part of the process of estimating how safe they might be. The study presented here examined whether such an assumption is upheld when people are allowed to express their thoughts about places before rating how disordered a place seems to them. British students evaluated three residential areas with different levels of disorder. First, participants had to write their impressions about the places and then rate how disordered, risky and unsafe the places seemed to them. The qualitative analysis showed that despite participants referred to physical disorder, only few participants mentioned crime and safety. Results from the quantitative analysis revealed that as the more disordered a place was rated the more unsafe it was considered. Findings suggest both that disordered places not always elicit unsafe concerns and that the so predicted relationship between disorder and safety maybe method dependant

Environmental surveillance for Salmonella Typhi as a tool to estimate the incidence of typhoid fever in low-income populations.

Background: The World Health Organisation recommends prioritised use of recently prequalified typhoid conjugate vaccines in countries with the highest incidence of typhoid fever. However, representative typhoid surveillance data are lacking in many low-income countries because of the costs and challenges of diagnostic clinical microbiology. Environmental surveillance (ES) of Salmonella Typhi in sewage and wastewater using molecular methods may offer a low-cost alternative, but its performance in comparison with clinical surveillance has not been assessed. Methods: We developed a harmonised protocol for typhoid ES and its implementation in communities in India and Malawi where it will be compared with findings from hospital-based surveillance for typhoid fever. The protocol includes methods for ES site selection based on geospatial analysis, grab and trap sample collection at sewage and wastewater sites, and laboratory methods for sample processing, concentration and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect Salmonella Typhi. The optimal locations for ES sites based on digital elevation models and mapping of sewage and river networks are described for each community and their suitability confirmed through field investigation. We will compare the prevalence and abundance of Salmonella Typhi in ES samples collected each month over a 12-month period to the incidence of blood culture confirmed typhoid cases recorded at referral hospitals serving the study areas. Conclusions: If environmental detection of Salmonella Typhi correlates with the incidence of typhoid fever estimated through clinical surveillance, typhoid ES may be a powerful and low-cost tool to estimate the local burden of typhoid fever and support the introduction of typhoid conjugate vaccines. Typhoid ES could also allow the impact of vaccination to be assessed and rapidly identify circulation of drug resistant strains

Absolute Quantitation of Met Using Mass Spectrometry for Clinical Application: Assay Precision, Stability, and Correlation with <i>MET</i> Gene Amplification in FFPE Tumor Tissue

Background: Overexpression of Met tyrosine kinase receptor is associated with poor prognosis. Overexpression, and particularly MET amplification, are predictive of response to Met-specific therapy in preclinical models. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues is currently used to select for ‘high Met’ expressing tumors for Met inhibitor trials. IHC suffers from antibody non-specificity, lack of quantitative resolution, and, when quantifying multiple proteins, inefficient use of scarce tissue.Methods: After describing the development of the Liquid-Tissue-Selected Reaction Monitoring-mass spectrometry (LT-SRM-MS) Met assay, we evaluated the expression level of Met in 130 FFPE gastroesophageal cancer (GEC) tissues. We assessed the correlation of SRM Met expression to IHC and mean MET gene copy number (GCN)/nucleus or MET/CEP7 ratio by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).Results: Proteomic mapping of recombinant Met identified 418TEFTTALQR426 as the optimal SRM peptide. Limits of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ) for this peptide were 150 and 200 amol/µg tumor protein, respectively. The assay demonstrated excellent precision and temporal stability of measurements in serial sections analyzed one year apart. Expression levels of 130 GEC tissues ranged (MET GCN and MET/CEP7 ratio as determined by FISH (n = 30; R2 = 0.898). IHC did not correlate well with SRM (n = 44; R2 = 0.537) nor FISH GCN (n = 31; R2 = 0.509). A Met SRM level of ≥1500 amol/µg was 100% sensitive (95% CI 0.69–1) and 100% specific (95% CI 0.92–1) for MET amplification.Conclusions: The Met SRM assay measured the absolute Met levels in clinical tissues with high precision. Compared to IHC, SRM provided a quantitative and linear measurement of Met expression, reliably distinguishing between non-amplified and amplified MET tumors. These results demonstrate a novel clinical tool for efficient tumor expression profiling, potentially leading to better informed therapeutic decisions for patients with GEC.</p

Patrimoine de marque : le passé au service du management de la marque

Researchers and practitioners talk about brand heritage even though its meaning and its difference from related concepts are not entirely clear. Through a review of the multidisciplinary literature, this article distinguishes brand heritage from the concepts of inheritance, retro, nostalgia, and authenticity. This article defines brand heritage as a dynamic construct based on an inherited or borrowed past, with a view to supporting brand identity and being transmitted. A total of 11 research propositions are presented within an inclusive framework that paves the way for future research and contributes to research on brand management and the role of consumers in creating value

Contributions to conservation outcomes by natural history museum-led citizen science: Examining evidence and next steps

publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Contributions to conservation outcomes by natural history museum-led citizen science: Examining evidence and next steps journaltitle: Biological Conservation articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.08.040 content_type: article copyright: © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.The file attached is the published version of the article

'I thought they should know...that daddy is not completely gone' : a case study of sense-of-presence experiences in bereavement and family meaning-making

This study aimed to explore the experiences, responses and conceptualizations of sense of presence experiences in bereavement in terms of family meaning-making. A case study framework was chosen, using group and individual interviews and ethnographically-derived observations in a father-bereaved family in the south of England. Interview data were analyzed by applying both phenomenological and social constructionist perspectives to the same data set. It was observed that there was a division between the mother, who had derived much personal benefit from sense of presence experiences, and the children, who dismissed the experiences as incompatible with their own worldviews and how they made sense of their father’s death