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Alterations in Interphase Chromosome Positioning and Nuclear Myosin Iβ and VI in Ovarian Cancer Cells, and the Reversal of Cisplatin Chemo resistance upon knock-down of Nuclear Myosin Iβ
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Whole-body angular momentum during stair ascent and descent in individuals with and without knee osteoarthritis
Get PDFGiven the higher fall risk and the fatal sequelae of falls on stairs, it is worthwhile to investigate the mechanism of dynamic balance control in individuals with knee osteoarthritis during stair negotiation. Whole-body angular momentum () is widely used as a surrogate to reflect dynamic balance and failure to constrain may increase the fall risk. This study aimed to compare the range of between people with and without knee osteoarthritis during stair ascent and descent. Seven participants with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis and eight asymptomatic controls were instructed to ascend and descend an instrumented staircase at a fixed cadence. Kinematic and kinetic data were collected and range of in sagittal, frontal, and transverse planes were computed. The knee osteoarthritis group exhibited greater in the sagittal plane during both stair ascent (P = 0.005, Cohen’s d = 1.7) and descent (P = 0.020, Cohen’s d = 1.3) as well as in the transverse plane during stair descent (P = 0.015, Cohen’s d = 1.3), than the control group. These observations may be explained by greater hip flexion (P 1.12) and reduced knee flexion moment (P P = 0.038, Cohen’s d=-1.2) during stair descent, in individuals with knee osteoarthritis. No significant difference in frontal plane was found between the two groups (P > 0.05). Individuals with knee osteoarthritis exhibited greater whole-body angular momentum during stair negotiation when compared to asymptomatic controls. Our findings may provide mechanistic rationale for a greater fall risk among people with knee osteoarthritis.This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors
Cerebral perfusion alterations in healthy young adults due to two genetic risk factors of Alzheimer’s disease: APOE and MAPT
Get PDFFunctional brain changes such as altered cerebral blood flow occur long before the onset of clinical symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative disorders. While cerebral hypoperfusion occurs in established AD, middle-aged carriers of genetic risk factors for AD, including APOE ε4, display regional hyperperfusion due to hypothesised pleiotropic or compensatory effects, representing a possible early biomarker of AD and facilitating earlier AD diagnosis. However, it is not clear whether hyperperfusion already exists even earlier in life. Here, 160 young and cognitively healthy participants from the Chinese PREVENT cohort underwent 3 T arterial spin labelling and T1 MRI and genetic testing for APOE and MAPT rs242557 status. Using FSL, we performed a whole brain voxel-wise analysis and a global mean grey matter analysis comparing for the effects of both risk genes on cerebral perfusion. No significant alterations were seen for APOE genotype, but in MAPT rs242557 A carriers, we observed a significantly hyperperfusion in the left anterior cingulate cortex and left insular cortex. There were no effects of APOE or MAPT status on the global perfusion. These results are novel and may suggest that MAPT genotypes demonstrated a distinct hemodynamic profile in a very young age.LS’s participation is funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK Senior Research Fellowship (ARUK-SRF2017B-1) and NIHR Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre. JZ is funded by China Ministry of Education’s Humanity and Social Sciences Project (23YJA190001). SSB is supported by the Association of British Neurologists (Stroke Association/Berkeley Foundation). JOB is supported by the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre
Microentrepreneurial commitment and perseverance in local communities during the COVID-19 crisis
Get PDFPurpose:
This paper aims to examine the puzzling performance of microbusinesses during the COVID-19 crisis by drawing on the Pinocchio paradox as a theoretical lens to explain their entrepreneurial commitment (EC) and perseverance in an existential crisis.
Design/methodology/approach:
Findings are drawn from a survey of owners and managers of 202 microbusinesses in Northern England during lockdown periods caused by the COVID-19 crisis.
Findings:
The sampled microbusinesses remained committed to serving communal needs during the crisis and persevered with high service levels despite the negative implications for the viability of those businesses.
Originality/value:
The paper fills an important gap in understanding why microbusinesses, which contribute significantly to the UK and other national economies, continued to serve their local communities during the COVID-19 crisis despite the financial risk of this activity. The paper’s principal contribution is in understanding the role of EC and perseverance, underpinned by local network ties, in enabling microbusinesses to remain active during an economic crisis to serve unmet needs and to compensate for lost business. State policies are proposed to assist microbusinesses and communities in anticipating and supporting their needs in and beyond future crises.This study was funded by the Huddersfield Business School, University of Huddersfield under URF TopUp funding to support pump-priming for COVID-19 related research activities
The role of stablecoins in the economy and evolving regulatory framework
Get PDFThis article discusses whether stablecoins can be characterised as "money", their potential role in the economy, and what regulatory framework is available for stabilisation of the value of coins. In doing so, it argues that "stablecoin commercial money", the equivalent of "bank commercial money", could play a significant role in the economy given the appropriate regulatory framework for stabilising the coins. The article presents a conceptual analysis of the terms "money" and "commercial money creation" given the existing form of money and stablecoins and a contextual analysis of the evolving regulatory framework for stablecoins. Issues are examined under the principles of financial law and regulation governing the understanding of the term money and its further conceptualisation in the context of stablecoins. The perspective adopted in the article is interpretive and critically analytical. The article argues that centralised stablecoins anchored in fiat currency and primarily backed by liquid assets are safe, similar to commercial bank money and equally suitable for creating stablecoin commercial money. It highlights the relevance of stablecoin in the economy and its potential to become a widely used payment method, unit of account and store of value. This article aims to further the legal debate on the future of stablecoins. The article is presented in two parts. The first part conceptually and comparatively analyses and defines existing and stablecoin money and the potential role of stablecoin in the economy, including commercial money creation. The second part discusses the evolving regulatory landscape for stabilising the value of coins, and hence the justification for creating stablecoin commercial money as safe money
Incorporating circularity, sustainability, and systems thinking into an assessment framework for transformative food system innovation
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The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.The transition towards a circular economy in the food system is posited as way to harmonize the provision safe, ample and accessible food to a growing population with the reduction the food system’s widespread impact on natural resources, the environment, and human health. Within the context of circular food innovation, there is an abundance of assessment approaches allowing researchers to evaluate and guide new technologies, applications, and products. However, specialist circularity tools are underutilized. This research draws from wider circular economy discourse, sustainability assessment methods, and systems-transitions theory to propose a novel framework to appraise and guide circular food innovation. Through a systematic literature review and critical analysis, this work highlights the limitations of existing methods based on a multi-disciplinary lens. In lieu of robust circularity metrics, elaborations within the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology provide a comprehensive sustainability and circularity assessment, while cross-disciplinary approaches inform the development of technological trajectories in line with system-transitions theories. The proposed framework aims to bridge this gap by providing a holistic approach that incorporates systems perspectives and considers the wider dynamics of sustainability and circular economy via future scenario modelling. By integrating these perspectives, the framework facilitates earlier intervention and broader stakeholder engagement in the sustainability assessment process. Examined primarily within the context of food manufacturing, this work provides new tools for academic research and industrial practitioners, driving transformative change towards a more sustainable and circular food system.This research was funded by UKRI BBSRC FoodBioSystems Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP), grant number BB/T008776/1 with CASE support from Samworth Brothers Ltd
Lively gifts and exclusive commodities: Rethinking encounter value in orangutan conservation
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The data that has been used is confidential.Orangutans serve as popular flagships for international conservation campaigns, which increasingly draw on digital communication and engagement technologies to mobilise support. Building on scholarship concerning the commodification of nature and digitalisation of conservation, this paper asks how orangutans produce value, for whom and to what end? It unpacks the frictions and tensions in how orangutans accumulate encounter value or fail to do so across diverse conservation contexts. Drawing upon interviews with orangutan conservation supporters in the United Kingdom and ethnographic research conducted at a rehabilitation centre and release sites in Indonesia, it reveals how orangutans become lively gifts, exclusive commodities, and entangled in unwanted encounters. By illuminating the varying, contrasting ways in which different audiences engage with one popular conservation species, our paper expands the concept of “encounter value”, troubling some of its underlying assumptions, particularly its commodity logics and intimate character. As the paper shows, encounter value is never fixed or prescribed, but contingent and, at times, even contested.This work was supported by the H2020 European Research Council [grant number 758494]
‘Grown up’ children from armed forces families: reflections on experiences of childhood and education
Get PDFThe foci in research, policy and practice in this area continue to be on serving members of the military, veterans, and their families, including school-aged children (Walker, Selous and Misca, 2020). Although there has been research undertaken with school-aged children, until now it has not been possible to locate any research that presents reflective accounts of childhood and education from those now grown up. This project entitled “‘Grown Up’ Children from Armed Forces Families: reflections on experiences of childhood and education” aims to develop our understanding of the lives of these people in ways that can subsequently be used to generate knowledge, inform policy and create resources to support practice, and provide a foundation for future research.This research was funded by the Global Lives Research Centre at Brunel University of London: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/research/Centres/Global-Lives
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