Between Scylla and Charybdis: Improving the Cost Effectiveness of Public Pension Retirement Plans

Unless defined benefit pension plans are managed much better and more cost-effectively, they will be replaced by defined contribution plans. Benefit and contribution policies need to be carefully evaluated to make sure that a reasonable level of ongoing contributions, together with investment income, are adequate to fund the defined benefit plan without unpleasant surprises. Unless valuation and contribution conventions change to market-valued economically-based quantities, decision makers will lack the right information with which to make informed policy decisions

Grrrls, Grrrls, Grrrls: Incorporating Feminist Theory Into Punk Rock Composition

This project argues that one can make rock music with anti-sexist values by incorporating feminist criticism and gendered performance into the composition of punk rock music. To test this thesis, the history of feminism and its implementation within musical discourse were examined. Using feminist music theory as a lens for observation, several songs from female artists and mix-gender bands within the punk genre were analyzed. This was done in order to find similarities in compositional practices and to explore punk rock’s symbolic representations of gender. Areas covered were the expression of jouissance by the proto-punks, the use of détournement by UK punk bands, the reclamation of the monstrous-feminine by goth punks, the subversive utilization of noise by bands of avant-garde punk movements, and the appropriation of girlhood aesthetics by riot grrrls. Compositional decisions informed by this research were used during the writing and recording of five original punk rock songs to convey anti-sexist values

\u3cem\u3eDrosophila\u3c/em\u3e Vitelline Membrane Assembly: A Critical Role for an Evolutionarily Conserved Cysteine in the “VM domain” of sV23

The vitelline membrane (VM), the oocyte proximal layer of the Drosophila eggshell, contains four major proteins (VMPs) that possess a highly conserved “VM domain” which includes three precisely spaced, evolutionarily conserved, cysteines (CX7CX8C). Focusing on sV23, this study showed that the three cysteines are not functionally equivalent. While substitution mutations at the first (C123S) or third (C140S) cysteines were tolerated, females with a substitution at the second position (C131S) were sterile. Fractionation studies showed that sV23 incorporates into a large disulfide linked network well after its secretion ceases, suggesting that post-depositional mechanisms are in place to restrict disulfide bond formation until late oogenesis, when the oocyte no longer experiences large volume increases. Affinity chromatography utilizing histidine tagged sV23 alleles revealed small sV23 disulfide linked complexes during the early stages of eggshell formation that included other VMPs, namely sV17 and Vml. The early presence but late loss of these associations in an sV23 double cysteine mutant suggests that reorganization of disulfide bonds may underlie the regulated growth of disulfide linked networks in the vitelline membrane. Found within the context of a putative thioredoxin active site (CXXS) C131, the critical cysteine in sV23, may play an important enzymatic role in isomerizing intermolecular disulfide bonds during eggshell assembly

Lean in healthcare: The unfilled promise?

In an effort to improve operational efficiency, healthcare services around the world have adopted process improvement methodologies from the manufacturing sector, such as Lean Production. In this paper we report on four multi-level case studies of the implementation of Lean in the English NHS. Our results show that this generally involves the application of specific Lean ‘tools’, such as ‘kaizen blitz’ and ‘rapid improvement events’, which tend to produce small-scale and localised productivity gains. Although this suggests that Lean might not currently deliver the efficiency improvements desired in policy, the evolution of Lean in the manufacturing sector also reveals this initial focus on the ‘tool level’. In moving to a more system-wide approach, however, we identify significant contextual differences between healthcare and manufacturing that result in two critical breaches of the assumptions behind Lean. First, the customer and commissioner in the private sector are the one and the same, which is essential in determining ‘customer value’ that drives process improvement activities. Second, healthcare is predominantly designed to be capacity-led, and hence there is limited ability to influence demand or make full use of freed-up resources. What is different about this research is that these breaches can be regarded as not being primarily ‘professional’ in origin but actually more ‘organisational’ and ‘managerial’ and, if not addressed could severely constrain Lean’s impact on healthcare productivity at the systems level

Long-term gene–culture coevolution and the human evolutionary transition

It has been suggested that the human species may be undergoing an evolutionary transition in individuality (ETI). But there is disagreement about how to apply the ETI framework to our species, and whether culture is implicated as either cause or consequence. Long-term gene–culture coevolution (GCC) is also poorly understood. Some have argued that culture steers human evolution, while others proposed that genes hold culture on a leash. We review the literature and evidence on long-term GCC in humans and find a set of common themes. First, culture appears to hold greater adaptive potential than genetic inheritance and is probably driving human evolution. The evolutionary impact of culture occurs mainly through culturally organized groups, which have come to dominate human affairs in recent millennia. Second, the role of culture appears to be growing, increasingly bypassing genetic evolution and weakening genetic adaptive potential. Taken together, these findings suggest that human long-term GCC is characterized by an evolutionary transition in inheritance (from genes to culture) which entails a transition in individuality (from genetic individual to cultural group). Thus, research on GCC should focus on the possibility of an ongoing transition in the human inheritance system

Reclaiming Our Heritage: Ritual and Ceremony in Nursing Education

Ceremonies have been a tradition in nursing. Such traditions strengthen ties to an institution and serve as connecting experiences for students and faculty. They can also help to enhance students’ commitment to nursing as a career. The adaptation of traditions to contemporary nursing education can be meaningful (Elgie, 2007; Lee, Idczak, Moon & Brown-Schott, 2006; Philpin, 2002

Quantifying physiological influences on otolith microchemistry

Trace element concentrations in fish earstones (‘otoliths’) are widely used to discriminate spatially discrete populations or individuals of marine fish, based on a commonly held assumption that physiological influences on otolith composition are minor, and thus variations in otolith elemental chemistry primarily reflect changes in ambient water chemistry. We carried out a long-term (1-year) experiment, serially sampling seawater, blood plasma and otoliths of mature and immature European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa L.) to test relationships between otolith chemistry and environmental and physiological variables. Seasonal variations in otolith elemental composition did not track seawater concentrations, but instead reflected physiological controls on metal transport and biokinetics, which are likely moderated by ambient temperature. The influence of physiological factors on otolith composition was particularly evident in Sr/Ca ratios, the most widely used elemental marker in applied otolith microchemistry studies. Reproduction also triggered specific variations in otolith and blood plasma metal chemistry, especially Zn/Ca ratios in female fish, which could potentially serve as retrospective spawning indicators. The influence of physiology on the trace metal composition of otoliths may explain the success of microchemical stock discrimination in relatively homogenous marine environments, but could complicate alternative uses for trace element compositions in biominerals of higher organism

Experimental platforms for behavioral experiments on social-ecological systems

Recently, there has been an increased interest in using behavioral experiments to study hypotheses on the governance of social-ecological systems. A diversity of software tools are used to implement such experiments. We evaluated various publicly available platforms that could be used in research and education on the governance of social-ecological systems. The aims of the various platforms are distinct, and this is noticeable in the differences in their user-friendliness and their adaptability to novel research questions. The more easily accessible platforms are useful for prototyping experiments and for educational purposes to illustrate theoretical concepts. To advance novel research aims, more elaborate programming experience is required to either implement an experiment from scratch or adjust existing experimental software. There is no ideal platform best suited for all possible use cases, but we have provided a menu of options and their associated trade-offs

Using Cooperation Science to Strengthen Maine’s Local Food Economy

While Maine’s food system has enjoyed a recent surge in demand for local food, this opportunity for economic growth has been impeded by a difficult business climate for farmers, small business owners, and institutions. We believe this difficult business climate necessitates policy interventions to sustain the local food economy. Cooperation science can be used to tackle the social dilemmas persisting in Maine’s local food economy and buttress the argument for increased support from the state. In this article, we implement the framework of cooperation to address the key concerns of farm viability, business succession, and increased food sourcing in local institutions from local producers in Maine