12508 research outputs found
Sort by
Beyond Domestication and Subsistence: A Call for a Decolonised Zooarchaeology
Get PDFYesThe recent movement for the decolonisation of academia has, unsurprisingly, become the centre of much discourse within archaeology as a discipline. And it is completely warranted-archaeology, for all intents and purposes, has its origins rooted in the colonial expansion of Western/European nations, and is still struggling to address much of the problems that this destructive process has created: the repatriation of ancestors and artefacts, a booming trade of illegal antiquities, etc. However, sub-disciplines such as zooarchaeology, the study of animals within the archaeological record, have yet to be held under scrutiny. This paper argues that zooarchaeology, despite its presumed focus on non-human species, is indeed just as much of an anthropocentric discipline as any other field within archaeology, and requires a similar consideration of decolonisation. Research trends within zooarchaeology, such as the overt emphasis of functional and economical approaches to animal remains in the archaeological record, can be traced to a very Western/European capitalist reading of the past that perhaps obscures truths that may not adhere to the Western/European paradigm that much of archaeological interpretation utilises. In order to combat how entrenched colonialist ideals are within zooarchaeology, this paper suggests that the key to a decolonised approach lies within the paradigm in which we develop our interpretations, where Western/European animal-human relations are held as an unconscious standard by which all archaeological remains are held to and interpreted against. By adopting a wider worldview that is much more open to "unconventional" alternatives, perhaps zooarchaeologists can finally unlock the true potential of many of our bone assemblages
Language Management: From Bricolage to Strategy in British Companies
No full textNoThis book draws on case studies of language management within British organisations to examine the decisions they make about language diversity in their professional communications in order to be successful in a multilingual world. It explores the practices that the organisations use to manage language diversity in interorganisational relationships, and why certain practices occur in some situations and not others. The book highlights how organisations rely on individual employees to perform a variety of language tasks and the implications of this; the effect of English as a global lingua franca; and the translation challenges which organisations face. The book demonstrates that practices to manage language diversity are often a result of the resources organisations have at given moments in time, rather than being part of a deliberate language management strategy
Design of Novel Synthetic Iron Oxide Nano-Catalyst Over Homemade Nano-Alumina for an Environmentally Friendly Fuel: Experiments and Modelling
No full textNoAchieving an environmentally friendly fuel with respect to minimum sulfur compounds has recently became a significant issue for petroleum refining industries. This paper focuses on investigating oxidative desulfurization (ODS) process for removal of sulfur compounds found in light gas oil (LGO) in a batch reactor (at different reaction temperatures and batch time) using a novel nano-catalyst based on 4% iron oxide (Fe2O3) as an active component. Precipitation and Impregnation methods are used to prepare the nano-gamma alumina (γ-alumina) and to generate the new synthetic homemade nanocatalyst. A mathematical model is formulated for the ODS process to estimate the optimal kinetic parameters within gPROMS package. An excellent consistency with the experimental data of all runs with error less than 5% have obtained. The optimization results display that the new nanocatalyst prepared here is effective in removing more than 97% of the sulfur compounds from LGO resulting in a cleaner fuel.The authors thank Petroleum Research and Development Center, The Iraqi Ministry of Oil /Baghdad, IRAQ for its financial support
New aldo-keto reductase 1C3 (AKR1C3) inhibitors based on the hydroxytriazole scaffold
Get PDFYesThe aldo-keto reductase 1C3 (AKR1C3) enzyme is considered an attractive target in Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer (CRPC) because of its role in the biosynthesis of androgens. Flufenamic acid, a non-selective AKR1C3 inhibitor, has previously been subjected to bioisosteric modulation to give rise to a series of compounds with the hydroxytriazole core. In this work, the hit compound of the previous series has been modulated further, and new, more potent, and selective derivatives have been obtained. The poor solubility of the most active compound (cpd 5) has been improved by substituting the triazole core with an isoxazole heteronucleous, with similar enzymatic activity being retained. Potent AKR1C3 inhibition is translated into antiproliferative effects against the 22RV1 CRPC cellular model, and the in-silico design, synthesis and biological activity of new compounds is described herein. Compounds have also been assayed in combination with two approved antitumor drugs, abiraterone and enzalutamide.This research was financially supported by the University of Turin (Ricerca Locale grants BOSD_RILO_20_01, LOLM_RILO_21_01, PIPA_RILO_20_01 and PIPA_RILO_21_01), Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Torino (Grant BOSD_CRT_17_2) and TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey-2219 program)
Effectual Endeavors of Silk Protein Sericin against Isoproterenol Induced Cardiac Toxicity and Hypertrophy in Wistar Rats
No full textYesThe silkworm cocoon has been used in the treatment of various ailments in different Asian countries. This research was designed to evaluate the effect of sericin on myocardial necrosis and hypertrophy in isoproterenol-challenged rats. The rats were administered with sericin (500 and 1000 mg/kg, p.o.) for 28 days, followed by administration of isoprenaline (85 mg/kg, s.c.) on the 29th and 30th days. The cardioprotective activity was assessed by various physical, enzymatic, and histopathological parameters along with apoptotic marker expression. The cardioprotective effect showed that pre-treatment of rats with sericin significantly increased the non-enzymatic antioxidants marker in serum and heart tissue (glutathione, vitamin E, and vitamin C). The results were the same in enzymatic antioxidant marker, mitochondrial enzymes, and protein. The grading of heart, heart/body weight ratio, gross morphology, cardiac markers, oxidative stress markers in serum and heart tissue, glucose, serum lipid profiling and Lysosomal hydrolases, heart apoptotic markers such as MHC expression by western blot, apoptosis by flow cytometry, total myocardial collagen content, fibrosis estimation, myocyte size were significantly decreased when compared with isoproterenol (ISG) group however histopathological studies showed normal architecture of heart in both control and treated rats. The pharmacological study reflects that sericin on both doses i.e., 500 mg/kg and 1000 mg/kg have potent cardioprotective action against the experimental model which was confirmed by various physical, biochemical, and histopathological parameters evaluated further research is required to examine the molecular mechanism of cardioprotective effect of sericin.King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (RSP-2021/357
Preservation of Smooth Muscle Cell Integrity and Function: A Target for Limiting Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Expansion?
No full textYes(1) Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a silent, progressive disease with significant mortality from rupture. Whilst screening programmes are now able to detect this pathology early in its development, no therapeutic intervention has yet been identified to halt or retard aortic expansion. The inability to obtain aortic tissue from humans at early stages has created a necessity for laboratory models, yet it is essential to create a timeline of events from EARLY to END stage AAA progression. (2) We used a previously validated ex vivo porcine bioreactor model pre-treated with protease enzyme to create "aneurysm" tissue. Mechanical properties, histological changes in the intact vessel wall, and phenotype/function of vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) cultured from the same vessels were investigated. (3) The principal finding was significant hyperproliferation of SMC from EARLY stage vessels, but without obvious histological or SMC aberrancies. END stage tissue exhibited histological loss of α-smooth muscle actin and elastin; mechanical impairment; and, in SMC, multiple indications of senescence. (4) Aortic SMC may offer a therapeutic target for intervention, although detailed studies incorporating intervening time points between EARLY and END stage are required. Such investigations may reveal mechanisms of SMC dysfunction in AAA development and hence a therapeutic window during which SMC differentiation could be preserved or reinstated.This research was funded in part by The Leeds Teaching Hospitals Charitable Foundation (R11/8002). E.R.C. was supported by a PhD studentship from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC; EP/F500513/1). R.J.H. was the recipient of an Intercalated Batchelor of Science Degree in Science award from the Royal College of Surgeons of England. M.A.B.(FS/18/12/33270 and FS/12/54/29671), K.I.B. (FS/12/26/29395), and K.J.G. (FS/11/91/29090) were supported by BHF Clinical Research Training Fellowships
‘Painting a Picture’ when ‘Putting in a Grievance’ Revelations and Reforms for Resolving Individual Grievances at the Town Hall
No full textThis thesis is premised on a straightforward notion: personal labour for an employer is work, regardless of the individual’s contractual status, and the right to raise a grievance within the daily workplace is fundamental to such a relationship. Whilst English local authorities are avowedly committed to ‘building inclusive communities’, as a recent policy paper termed it, status differences revealed from within their own workforces have the potential to constrain this right. At a broader level, the expansion of the so-called ‘gig economy’ has forced the judiciary, through decisions involving major digital brands such as Deliveroo and Uber, as well as the Government itself, to consider the status implications, and the associated rights of directly employed workers and agency workers. These so-called ‘gig workers’, together with employees on casual contracts of employment, comprise today’s ‘legally vulnerable’ for the purpose of this thesis. For this marginalised cohort, reforms are posited.
Preliminary findings from a review of the Employment Appeal Tribunal’s jurisprudence for this thesis confirmed, rather surprisingly, given the size and extent of the overall workforce, that grievance procedures are seldom raised in argument within the few local authority (‘town hall’) cases that reach it, and even if they are so raised little critical or meaningful judicial discussion ever takes place on them. Such a paucity of published decision-making has contributed to an overall deficit of knowledge on how procedures come to be as they are, how they are used to resolve differences, and how managers respond to grievance expression, especially from the more legally vulnerable constituency of each workforce. This thesis therefore, addresses two overarching questions: (i) how have the legal frameworks on workplace grievances and contractual status evolved?; and (ii) how do local authorities, through their procedural structures and operational practice, facilitate the resolution and inclusion of individual grievances
Proposing a Three-Stage Model to Quantify Bradykinesia on a Symptom Severity Level Using Deep Learning
No full textNoTypically characterised as a movement disorder, bradykinesia can be represented according to the degree of motor impairment. The assessment criteria for Parkinson's disease (PD) is therefore well defined due to its symptomatic nature. Diagnosing and monitoring the progression of bradykinesia is currently heavily reliant on clinician's visual judgment. One of the most common forms of examining bradykinesia involves rapid finger tapping and is aimed to determine the patient's ability to initiate and sustain movement effectively. This consists of the patient repeatedly tapping their index finger and thumb together. Object detection algorithm, YOLO, was trained to track the separation between the index finger and thumb. Bounding boxes (BB) were used to determine their relative position on a frame-to-frame basis to produce a time series signal. Key movement characteristics were extracted to determine regularity of movement in finger tapping amongst Parkinson's patients and controls
The role of collaboration in tackling food loss and waste: Salient stakeholder perspective
No full textYesWhile studies indicate that collaboration between stakeholders plays a prominent role in reducing food loss and waste (FLW), they have not specified which stakeholder group's collaboration will be more effective in reducing FLW. To fill this gap in the literature, this paper aims to identify and classify fruit and vegetable supply chain (FVSC) stakeholders according to their salience level and offer mitigation strategies for different salient stakeholder groups to tackle FLW. The study was conducted in Turkish FVSC because fruit and vegetable loss accounted for 53% of the total food loss. A multi-method approach was utilised to achieve the aim. First, 26 semi-structured interviews were conducted with Turkish FVSC experts to determine FVSC stakeholders and FLW drivers. Second, to identify and classify salient stakeholders, stakeholder mapping was undertaken. Collaboration-related mitigation strategies are offered high salient stakeholders and other stakeholder groups to reduce the amount of fruit and vegetable loss and waste. According to content analysis results, 25 supply chain actors are identified as stakeholders, and 15 are classified as salient stakeholders who can be more effective in tackling FLW. In addition, based on the results, 26 FLW drivers are identified according to different supply chain stages. Collaboration-based mitigation strategies were developed to diminish the impact of FLW causes at different stages. This study is one of the early attempts to classify food supply chain stakeholders according to saliency level. This study offers collaboration-related mitigation strategies to eliminate FLW drivers that cause loss and waste between specific stages of the FVSC.The research was supported by The Scientific & Technological Research Council of Turkey (Tübitak 2211-A project no: 1649B031503919)
The Impact of Board Diversity on Textual Social, Environmental Disclosures, and Corporate Performance
Get PDFDrawing on the notion of faultlines – a hypothetical dividing line that splits a group
into two or more subgroups based on the alignment of one or more individual
attributes – this thesis proposes a new approach to the measurement and
assessment of board diversity to understand how high(er) performing boards can
be built i.e., the multi-dimensional diversity index (MDI). The proposed MDI
captures the joint effect of differences in director attributes at four diversity levels
for 26,743 directors, namely: (i) surface (or baseline); (ii) identity; (iii)
demographic; and (iv) meso-level. The current study uses three-stage least
squares (3SLS) with a panel of 3,357 FTSE All-Share index non-financial
companies from 2005 to 2018. To this end, a key implication of this study – and
by extension, the proposed MDI – is that it challenges the conventional notion
that boards are improved ‘enough’ by focusing on the micro-dimension and
increasing stand-alone diversity attributes, such as gender. Collectively, this
study’s results suggest that a well-diversified board incentivises managers to
disclose more information on social and environmental activities in contrast to
firms with an extreme faultline score. The results show that highly effective boards
with a moderate faultline score at meso-level diversity (e.g., identity, information,
and non-demographic attributes) lead to better accounting profitability, corporate
value, and market-based performance. Remarkably, the present study finds that nationality diversity per se positively impacts corporate performance; in contrast,
the dominance of male directors hinders firm performance significantly