Towards a sustainable airline business model : addressing the forces impacting on European based airlines

Since the year 2000 the existing business model of many European airlines has come under extreme financial pressure from a weak and volatile economy, the threat of international conflict, terrorism and pandemics, as well as a high dependence on the supply and price of fossil fuels. Oil based transport is becoming a major sustainability issue due to price and supply fluctuations, geopolitics, and burgeoning environmental concerns. This thesis examines the role of business model innovation in supporting a sustainability transition in the European airline sector. To achieve this aim, I develop a novel framework that links the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP), the STOF model and business model innovation to understand the drivers affecting the European airline industry. I adopt a four-stage mixed-method approach consisting of a quantitative study of published European airline results, a grey literature review, forty structured interviews and a final triangulation. The findings pinpoint the failings of the industry and detail the major issues concerning its sustainability transition to a low carbon industry. A fragmentation towards four business model groups is identified. The results of the research indicate that changes to airline business models are reactions to forces arising from the MLP and do not lead industry transition. The study indicates that a long incremental sustainability transition in an internationally regulated industry using evolving complex technologies is difficult to capture by reworking airline business models, but that the adoption of new technology can advance system transition. The separation of these technologies into operating ´parcels´ could offer a valuable understanding of their contribution to the business model construct. A sequenced framework for industry transition is proposed. The thesis contributes to the limited literature on the role of business model innovation in shaping sustainability transitions and highlights critical issues and challenges facing the airline sector in Europe

Mathematical pathways for students articulating to Business degrees

Australia needs more qualified professionals in the STEM areas. The national focus on widening participation in higher education (HE) includes strengthening pathways from vocational education and training (VET). VET students often lack the mathematics skills necessary to articulate successfully to their chosen degrees. Maths anxiety has been identified as a barrier to success in Business degrees in particular (Joyce, Hassal, Jose, Donose & Jose, 2006), highlighting the need for maths knowledge and support for students transitioning to these degrees. Of particular concern are those students who might be potentially less prepared for the transition, such as VET students. This project is part of a larger Office for Learning and Teaching grant focusing on developing contextualised pathways for four different disciplines (education, engineering, business and health science). The business pathway mapped mathematics topics covered in VET units associated with business qualifications at Certificate 3, 4 and Diploma level foundation level units to the base level maths knowledge required at the University of Tasmania and the University of Notre Dame Australia for completion of first year quantitative methods units. From this mapping, a set of online modules were developed to support students during their VET qualifications with foundation level skills, and fill the mathematics gap between VET and HE. These modules were also designed to provide support to first year business students, and assist them in completion of the quantitative methods units required in first year Bachelor of Business Degrees. The pathway developed has seven modules; two foundation level modules, three transition level modules and two providing resources for support through HE quantitative methods. For the first five modules, a pre-test determined whether a student needed to complete the module and a post-test (self-assessed) was developed to test the students’ knowledge after completing the module lessons, practice tasks and exercises. The project has recently concluded, and the pathway to business has now been active for 4 months during which it has been offered to first year business students at the University of Tasmania to trial. Successful completion of the module post-tests has been endorsed by the University of Notre Dame Australia’s School of Business for entry into the program for students with tertiary maths. This presentation describes the process of the business pathway development and the opportunities for cross sectoral course support and delivery. References: Joyce, J., Hassall, T., Arquero M., José L., Donoso A., & José A., Communication apprehension and maths anxiety as barriers to communication and numeracy skills development in accounting and business education, Education & Training 48.6 (2006): 454-464. Proceedings of the Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education, Curtin University, Sept 30th to Oct 1st, 2015, page X, ISBN Number 978-0-9871834-4-6

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Prehospital transdermal glyceryl trinitrate in patients with ultra-acute presumed stroke (RIGHT-2): an ambulance-based, randomised, sham-controlled, blinded, phase 3 trial

Background High blood pressure is common in acute stroke and is a predictor of poor outcome; however, large trials of lowering blood pressure have given variable results, and the management of high blood pressure in ultra-acute stroke remains unclear. We investigated whether transdermal glyceryl trinitrate (GTN; also known as nitroglycerin), a nitric oxide donor, might improve outcome when administered very early after stroke onset. Methods We did a multicentre, paramedic-delivered, ambulance-based, prospective, randomised, sham-controlled, blinded-endpoint, phase 3 trial in adults with presumed stroke within 4 h of onset, face-arm-speech-time score of 2 or 3, and systolic blood pressure 120 mm Hg or higher. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive transdermal GTN (5 mg once daily for 4 days; the GTN group) or a similar sham dressing (the sham group) in UK based ambulances by paramedics, with treatment continued in hospital. Paramedics were unmasked to treatment, whereas participants were masked. The primary outcome was the 7-level modified Rankin Scale (mRS; a measure of functional outcome) at 90 days, assessed by central telephone follow-up with masking to treatment. Analysis was hierarchical, first in participants with a confirmed stroke or transient ischaemic attack (cohort 1), and then in all participants who were randomly assigned (intention to treat, cohort 2) according to the statistical analysis plan. This trial is registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN26986053. Findings Between Oct 22, 2015, and May 23, 2018, 516 paramedics from eight UK ambulance services recruited 1149 participants (n=568 in the GTN group, n=581 in the sham group). The median time to randomisation was 71 min (IQR 45–116). 597 (52%) patients had ischaemic stroke, 145 (13%) had intracerebral haemorrhage, 109 (9%) had transient ischaemic attack, and 297 (26%) had a non-stroke mimic at the final diagnosis of the index event. In the GTN group, participants’ systolic blood pressure was lowered by 5·8 mm Hg compared with the sham group (p<0·0001), and diastolic blood pressure was lowered by 2·6 mm Hg (p=0·0026) at hospital admission. We found no difference in mRS between the groups in participants with a final diagnosis of stroke or transient ischaemic stroke (cohort 1): 3 (IQR 2–5; n=420) in the GTN group versus 3 (2–5; n=408) in the sham group, adjusted common odds ratio for poor outcome 1·25 (95% CI 0·97–1·60; p=0·083); we also found no difference in mRS between all patients (cohort 2: 3 [2–5]; n=544, in the GTN group vs 3 [2–5]; n=558, in the sham group; 1·04 [0·84–1·29]; p=0·69). We found no difference in secondary outcomes, death (treatment-related deaths: 36 in the GTN group vs 23 in the sham group [p=0·091]), or serious adverse events (188 in the GTN group vs 170 in the sham group [p=0·16]) between treatment groups. Interpretation Prehospital treatment with transdermal GTN does not seem to improve functional outcome in patients with presumed stroke. It is feasible for UK paramedics to obtain consent and treat patients with stroke in the ultraacute prehospital setting. Funding British Heart Foundation

The Tyrosine Kinase Abl and Its Substrate Enabled Collaborate with the Receptor Phosphatase Dlar to Control Motor Axon Guidance

AbstractGenetic analysis of growth cone guidance choice points in Drosophila identified neuronal receptor protein tyrosine phosphatases (RPTPs) as key determinants of axon pathfinding behavior. We now demonstrate that the Drosophila Abl tyrosine kinase functions in the intersegmental nerve b (ISNb) motor choice point pathway as an antagonist of the RPTP Dlar. The function of Abl in this pathway is dependent on an intact catalytic domain. We also show that the Abl phosphoprotein substrate Enabled (Ena) is required for choice point navigation. Both Abl and Ena proteins associate with the Dlar cytoplasmic domain and serve as substrates for Dlar in vitro, suggesting that they play a direct role in the Dlar pathway. These data suggest that Dlar, Abl, and Ena define a phosphorylation state–dependent switch that controls growth cone behavior by transmitting signals at the cell surface to the actin cytoskeleton

Environmental movements and campaigns against waste infrastructure in the United States

Campaigns against waste infrastructure in the US emerged in the 1970s against a background of increasing public anxiety about the impacts of high-tech industrialism upon the environment and human health. Independently of major environmental NGOs, and unlike earlier anti-nuclear campaigns, which also involved grassroots protests, waste campaigners quickly became networked and raised new issues of environmental justice. Initially focused upon landfills and hazardous waste, the environmental justice movement took up and amplified local protests against waste incineration. Independently of popular protest, changes in public policy and the economics of the waste industry also contributed to the unpopularity of waste incineration, and recycling regained appeal. Campaigns against waste infrastructure have contributed to the broadening of the US environmental movement as well as to ecological modernisation