Managing organizational PR activities in crisis situations

Public relations have proved to be an efficient apparatus in the organizational crisis management, acting to resolve crisis situations, promoting organizations/enterprises, their products or services by shaping public opinions and coordinating with civil society. PR activities involve a set of different practices, including managing the company’s image, media mediation, organizing various events, corporate communications, which are aimed at mutually beneficial relationships between staff and customers, partners, and other publics. Therefore, the relevance of our research is determined by the need to increase the effectiveness of PR activities in crisis situations at domestic enterprises in order to provide their development and successful functioning as well as avoid the threats to organizational reputation and image caused by crisis situations. The study is aimed at analyzing the theoretical and practical aspects of managing enterprises’ PR activities in crisis situations and revealing the role of effective strategies and methods in anti-crisis PR as a means of preserving the enterprise’s image. The subject matter of this paper is organizational PR anti-crisis activities. In the article, critical analysis, synthesis and comparison were applied as the basic research principles. The results suggest that managing the organizational PR activities in crisis situations is successful if the following measures are implemented, namely analysis of the company’s (organization) image by studying the publics’ opinions; development of a crisis response strategy together with the management; implementation of PR programs through establishing communications with general public and target audiences. It is determined that in crisis situations, the main task is to manage the communication process aimed at spreading the organization’s viewpoint, influencing the problem perception, preventing the spread of rumors and disinformation as well as neutralizing or minimizing the consequences of the crisis for the image and reputation of the organization

Genetics of Host Response to Leishmania tropica in Mice – Different Control of Skin Pathology, Chemokine Reaction, and Invasion into Spleen and Liver

Several hundred million people are exposed to the risk of leishmaniasis, a disease caused by intracellular protozoan parasites of several Leishmania species and transmitted by phlebotomine sand flies. In humans, L. tropica causes cutaneous form of leishmaniasis with painful and long-persisting lesions in the site of the insect bite, but the parasites can also penetrate to internal organs. The relationship between the host genes and development of the disease was demonstrated for numerous infectious diseases. However, the search for susceptibility genes in the human population could be a difficult task. In such cases, animal models may help to discover the role of different genes in interactions between the parasite and the host. Unfortunately, the literature contains only a few publications about the use of animals for L. tropica studies. Here, we report an animal model suitable for genetic, pathological and drug studies in L. tropica infection. We show how the host genotype influences different disease symptoms: skin lesions, parasite dissemination to the lymph nodes, spleen and liver, and increase of levels of chemokines CCL2, CCL3 and CCL5 in serum

Examining workload in dancers: How much and how hard are dancers working?

As artistic athletes, dancers participate in long hours of training, increasing their risk of injury. Workload, which describes how much and how hard dancers work, can improve our understanding of dancers’ training and lead to the development of effective injury prevention strategies. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis was to investigate dancers’ workloads across all dance genres and dance levels of participation, examine how wellness factors influence dancers’ workloads, and explore dancers’, dance teachers’ and dance parents’ attitudes and current use practices of wearable technology in the dance studio environment. In Chapter Two, a systematic search of the literature identified that the most common tool used to quantify dancers’ workload was ‘hours’, although it does not account for the intensity of dance training. The observed trend in dance workload research is moving from capturing only exposure or intensity of training, to capturing workload where both the volume and intensity of dance training is considered. In Chapter Three, longitudinal monitoring of female undergraduate university dancers’ workloads and wellness found that the dancers’ workloads were not significantly associated with any of the seven wellness factors examined. In Chapter Four, dancers’ external workloads were quantified using wearable technology and video movement analysis. Dancers’ external workloads were higher than 70,000AU in a session, and were larger in classes than rehearsals. In a typical dance session, transitions were the most commonly performed dance movement, followed by floor rolls, and jumps. In Chapter Five, dancers, dance teachers, and dance parents reported modest attitudes towards wearable technology and high self-efficacy of using wearable technology. Prevalence of using wearables in the studio was approximately 50%, with smartwatches and wristband activity trackers being the most common devices used. Identified barriers to using wearables in dance included dance studio rules, not having a device, and lack of interest in wearables. In conclusion, a wide range of tools and devices can be used to monitor dancers’ workloads, allowing for prospective workload monitoring, and paving the way for the workload-injury association to be examined in dance

Metamorphic Conditions and Raman Spectroscopic Carbonaceous Material Thermometry of Host Schists of Olympiada and Eldorado Gold Deposits (Yenisey Ridge, Russia)

Metamorphic processes play a key role in forming orogenic gold deposits. In this paper, we present new evidence that host schists of the two largest gold deposits of the Yenisey ridge (Russia) Olympiada and Eldorado underwent a single stage of metamorphism in contrast to surrounding blocks. This metamorphism is of moderate thermal gradient and belongs to the Barrovian type, which is typical for the collisional event in the time range 800–850 Ma. The new Ar/Ar age data presented in this paper and the review of magmatic and metamorphic events and ore-forming processes indicate that the most productive stage (gold-sulfide-quartz) correlates well in time with the regional metamorphism of the Barrovian type. This indicates that metamorphic processes can have a crucial role in forming gold deposits of the Yenisey ridge. Carbonaceous material thermometry indicates a wide range of obtained temperatures around 90–150 °C around the mean temperature for each sample. The highest temperatures are close to the peak metamorphic temperatures estimated by garnet-biotite thermometry

A novel locus on mouse chromosome 7 that influences survival after infection with tick-borne encephalitis virus

Abstract Background Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is the main tick-borne viral infection in Eurasia. Its manifestations range from inapparent infections and fevers with complete recovery to debilitating or fatal encephalitis. The basis of this heterogeneity is largely unknown, but part of this variation is likely due to host genetic. We have previously found that BALB/c mice exhibit intermediate susceptibility to the infection of TBE virus (TBEV), STS mice are highly resistant, whereas the recombinant congenic strain CcS-11, carrying 12.5% of the STS genome on the background of the BALB/c genome is even more susceptible than BALB/c. Importantly, mouse orthologs of human TBE controlling genes Oas1b, Cd209, Tlr3, Ccr5, Ifnl3 and Il10, are in CcS-11 localized on segments derived from the strain BALB/c, so they are identical in BALB/c and CcS-11. As they cannot be responsible for the phenotypic difference of the two strains, we searched for the responsible STS-derived gene-locus. Of course the STS-derived genes in CcS-11 may operate through regulating or epigenetically modifying these non-polymorphic genes of BALB/c origin. Methods To determine the location of the STS genes responsible for susceptibility of CcS-11, we analyzed survival of TBEV-infected F2 hybrids between BALB/c and CcS-11. CcS-11 carries STS-derived segments on eight chromosomes. These were genotyped in the F2 hybrid mice and their linkage with survival was tested by binary trait interval mapping. We have sequenced genomes of BALB/c and STS using next generation sequencing and performed bioinformatics analysis of the chromosomal segment exhibiting linkage with TBEV survival. Results Linkage analysis revealed a novel suggestive survival-controlling locus on chromosome 7 linked to marker D7Nds5 (44.2 Mb). Analysis of this locus for polymorphisms between BALB/c and STS that change RNA stability and genes’ functions led to detection of 9 potential candidate genes: Cd33, Klk1b22, Siglece, Klk1b16, Fut2, Grwd1, Abcc6, Otog, and Mkrn3. One of them, Cd33, carried a nonsense mutation in the STS strain. Conclusions The robust genetic system of recombinant congenic strains of mice enabled detection of a novel suggestive locus on chromosome 7. This locus contains 9 candidate genes, which will be focus of future studies not only in mice but also in humans

Mapping the Genes for Susceptibility and Response to <i>Leishmania tropica</i> in Mouse

<div><p>Background</p><p><i>L. tropica</i> can cause both cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis in humans. Although the <i>L. tropica</i>-induced cutaneous disease has been long known, its potential to visceralize in humans was recognized only recently. As nothing is known about the genetics of host responses to this infection and their clinical impact, we developed an informative animal model. We described previously that the recombinant congenic strain CcS-16 carrying 12.5% genes from the resistant parental strain STS/A and 87.5% genes from the susceptible strain BALB/c is more susceptible to <i>L. tropica</i> than BALB/c. We used these strains to map and functionally characterize the gene-loci regulating the immune responses and pathology.</p><p>Methods</p><p>We analyzed genetics of response to <i>L. tropica</i> in infected F₂ hybrids between BALB/c×CcS-16. CcS-16 strain carries STS-derived segments on nine chromosomes. We genotyped these segments in the F₂ hybrid mice and tested their linkage with pathological changes and systemic immune responses.</p><p>Principal Findings</p><p>We mapped 8 <i>Ltr</i> (<i>Leishmania tropica</i> response) loci. Four loci (<i>Ltr2</i>, <i>Ltr3</i>, <i>Ltr6</i> and <i>Ltr8</i>) exhibit independent responses to <i>L. tropica</i>, while <i>Ltr1</i>, <i>Ltr4</i>, <i>Ltr5</i> and <i>Ltr7</i> were detected only in gene-gene interactions with other <i>Ltr</i> loci. <i>Ltr3</i> exhibits the recently discovered phenomenon of transgenerational parental effect on parasite numbers in spleen. The most precise mapping (4.07 Mb) was achieved for <i>Ltr1</i> (chr.2), which controls parasite numbers in lymph nodes. Five <i>Ltr</i> loci co-localize with loci controlling susceptibility to <i>L. major</i>, three are likely <i>L. tropica</i> specific. Individual <i>Ltr</i> loci affect different subsets of responses, exhibit organ specific effects and a separate control of parasite load and organ pathology.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>We present the first identification of genetic loci controlling susceptibility to <i>L. tropica</i>. The different combinations of alleles controlling various symptoms of the disease likely co-determine different manifestations of disease induced by the same pathogen in individual mice.</p></div

Skin lesion caused by <i>Leishmania tropica</i> in female of CcS-16 strain at week 43 after infection.

<p>Skin lesion caused by <i>Leishmania tropica</i> in female of CcS-16 strain at week 43 after infection.</p

Sex differences in lesion size (week 8) after <i>L. major</i> infection.

<p>Analysis of sex influence on lesion development was performed using General Linear Models Univariate ANOVA with experiment as a random and age as a fixed parameter. We have observed influence of experiment (<i>P</i> range 0.006–0.000019), whereas influence of age was not significant (<i>P</i>>0.17).</p

Number of parasites cultivated from lymph nodes of mouse strains 21 and 43 weeks after infection.

<p>Mice were killed at week 21 (A) and week 43 (B) after infection. Asterisks show strains that exhibited parasite load significantly different from BALB/c. Brackets indicate strains with differences between males and females. Data are presented as mean ± SD.</p