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Characterization of extracellular vesicles from primary skin epithelial cells and cell lines from Atlantic salmon
No full textExtracellular vesicle (EV) research in fish, particularly in aquaculture-relevant species, is gaining momentum, with interest in biomarker development, while the availability of in vitro tools to study EV-mediated cellular communication in fish is limited, particularly with respect to primary cell lines. As salmon represents one of the most valuable fish species in global aquaculture, identifying robust biomarkers for fish health monitoring is a high priority. This study introduces a novel in vitro model for EV research in salmon, utilising primary and immune relevant cell lines to closely mimic in vivo conditions. EVs were profiled from primary scale derived keratocyte cells (SKC), in addition to EVs from previously established salmon cell lines (ASK and SSP-9 from salmon head kidney). EV size profiles were identified overall in the 50-450 nm range, with some differences between the cell lines. EV protein cargoes were analyzed by LC-MS/MS alongside associated pathway enrichment, providing insights for roles of EVs in cell-type-specific communication, including immune responses. Notably, the SKC-derived EVs revealed proteins and pathways associated with wound healing, keratinization, and immune defense, highlighting their potential as therapeutic targets. Additionally, shared pathways identified in EVs from all cell lines, included the non-canonical NF-κB pathway and ubiquitination, offering new perspectives into EV-mediated signaling in fish. Our in-vitro model system may provide a translational platform to develope EVs as robust biomarkers of fish health, with potential applications in aquaculture. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Aging-independent decrease of complex multi-spine boutons in hippocampal area CA1 after contextual fear conditioning
Get PDFLong-lasting synaptic changes enable memory storage and regulate recall in the brain. Our previous work established that generation of multi-innervated dendritic spines (MISs), spines with typically two excitatory presynaptic inputs, underlies hippocampal memory formation in aged, but not young mice. The identification of MIS generation was done by ultrastructural analysis in hippocampal CA1 stratum radiatum 24 h after contextual fear conditioning (CFC). However, our analysis did not consider multi-spine boutons (MSBs), which were recently shown to increase in complexity (complex MSBs are pre-synaptic boutons connecting with more than two post-synapses) at a later time point after CFC in young age. Therefore, we re-analyzed our three-dimensional electron microscopy images and show that, unexpectedly, MSB complexity, decreases in CA1 stratum radiatum 24 h after CFC. The decrease in MSB complexity occurred both in young and aged mice, indicating that aging has no impact on this synaptic change. Considering that complex MSBs link the activity of multiple postsynaptic neurons, we suggest that after CFC a decrease in MSB complexity may be required for specific memory recall
Prospects for hydrogen energy and its production in India
No full textThis chapter examines potential Indian hydrogen energy development on three timescales: near-present, 2050, and 2070. The Net-Zero policy target date for much of the world is 2050, but for India it is 2070. The chapter presents hydrogen in India today. The chapter considers hydrogen manufacture, its uses, and the role of industrial clusters. Prospects for emerging hydrogen demand are assessed on each time horizon. Current and future hydrogen production approaches are described and linked to considerations of distribution. It gives much emphasis to the role of innovation, both globally and specifically within India, emphasizing the importance, and promise, of active Indian research into low carbon hydrogen production. The chapter observes that quite properly the development of a hydrogen economy in India could have a different set of working assumptions and industrial synergies than will be seen in the richest countries of the world. The extended time line and the economic and social realities of India bring particular trade-off considerations and these realities should permit a wider range of industrial approaches including, through the transition, fossil fuel related options. If the world is to decarbonize then India must decarbonize. A hydrogen economy is attractive to India and hence India can be expected to play a world-leading role in developing important technologies of wider utility
Interrogating “scale” in strategic management-at-scale: lessons from collaborative governance
No full textWhile the field of strategic planning and management has mostly focused on single organizations, a new strand of literature on “strategy management at scale” (SMAS) is exploring the way strategic management can address large-scale, cross-organizational, cross-level, often cross-boundary challenges. The appearance of this new strand has coincided with renewed emphasis on concepts such as public value governance, whole-of-government approaches, and mission-oriented innovation. This essay connects the nascent SMAS literature with longer-standing concepts from collaborative governance to better theorize what is meant by “at scale” in SMAS. We apply Ansell and Torfing’s scale framework, which pinpointed diverse ways in which collaborations could scale, to foundational SMAS literature. SMAS currently emphasizes jurisdictional and functional aspects of scale, with less attention to geographic or temporal considerations. We suggest ways that a more multi-dimensional understanding of scale could inspire new research and enhance strategic management’s role in tackling global challenges
From intellectual capital to sustainability performance: an interventionist research approach to management control
Get PDFPurpose
This study aims to investigate the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) and sustainability in practice by developing and testing a management control tool to enhance sustainability through IC. The case tested is a publicly listed Italian information technology company.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing an interventionist research approach, the authors actively participated in a team tasked with designing a new IC reporting system. The methods of inquiry included in-depth interviews with project stakeholders and reviewing internal documents to offer a critical and performative analysis of IC practices in action. The resulting analysis led to the development of a new management control tool.
Findings
The management control tool developed in collaboration with the company not only significantly enhanced sustainability performance, it also fostered integrated thinking. Specifically, the tool helped to identify, measure and monitor firm-specific IC, including skills and competencies, knowledge and innovation, values, legitimacy, trust and reputation.
Originality/value
The findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on IC practices. Through new insights into the practical relationship between IC and sustainability, this paper affirms IC’s significance to businesses that want to improve their sustainability. The study also presents a methodical approach to integrating sustainability thinking into corporate practices, adding to the limited literature on how management control systems can promote corporate sustainability
Supporting the wellbeing of young mothers in Ghana: Findings from research with young mothers in the Cape Coast and a call for action
Get PDFThe INSPIRE project (Initiating Networks of Support, Partnership, Information, Research and Empowerment for young mothers) is a collaboration between The Open University (OU, UK) and the University of Cape Coast University (UCC, Ghana). This booklet introduces the projects and summarises the results from a photovoice project exploring the experiences of young mothers in the Cape Coast of Ghana
Enhancing Morpho-Kinematic analysis for Plant Water Stress Classification through Leaf Movements
No full textPrecise irrigation management requires robust classification of plant water stress. We expanded a morpho-kinematic (MK) framework that derives canopy-movement features from RGB time-lapse imaging evaluating how methodological refinements affect robustness and fine discrimination across four irrigation treatments representing distinct stress histories.
The study tested both a biological (Agg) versus an isogonal (Unif) sectoring of the canopy image, within an additive scheme where to the baseline (i.e. flattened MK features, A0) were sequentially added non-linear descriptors (A1), irrigation-context variables (i.e. dry time, A2), and their interactions with baseline (A3). The multi-class problem was decomposed in biologically meaningful binary tasks, and the final classification confronted an adaptive – to the performance obtained in the out-of-fold predictions inside the leave-one-sample-out validation framework – linear opinion pooling (ALOP) ensemble, evaluated across its full parameter space, against hierarchical cascades (HCC).
In our combined dataset from two sequential Lactuca sativa L. experiments (144 sample-days) ALOP median outperformed HCC in every configuration, while non-linear and contextual enrichments (A1–A2) produced consistent improvements in terms of prediction stability, variability (for ALOP), and balanced accuracy (BA). The highest balanced accuracy (median BA = 0.96) was reached under Unif scheme in A3, yet the Agg configuration in A2 achieved the best compromise between accuracy (median BA = 0.91) and robustness.
Concluding, this study identifies methodological pathways that strengthen resilience and transferability of movement-based water-stress classification, establishing a solid foundation for generalizable, low-cost phenotyping
Storying the Menopause: An Evocative Auto/ethnography
No full textStorying the Menopause presents a kaleidoscope of multifaceted lived experience, offering a diverse and illuminating range of stories that foreground often hidden voices, thereby expanding our understanding of the menopause in twenty-first-century UK. Menopause is different for everyone, as evidenced by the stories within this book – many stories speak of despair, difficulty, loss and pain, but they also speak of uprising, liberation, freedom and release.
Everington takes an evocative auto/ethnographical approach, using life writing and reflection to explore the author’s own personal experience and the experience of others, connecting these autobiographical and biographical stories to wider cultural, political and social understandings of menopause.
Offering a body of collaboratively produced testimonies, drawing on interviews and a range of interdisciplinary approaches, this topical book is recommended for anyone interested in gender and women’s studies, life writing studies, the sociology of reproduction, the sociology of ageing, creative non-fiction writing approaches, oral history and ethnography studies
Wellbeing
No full textThis chapter analyses the growing number of research and evaluative studies which seek to explore the significance of planning and implementing focused wellbeing actions. It will also present approaches and strategies which have proven to be successful in schools. This chapter finishes with a summary of the key points to provide a takeaway for readers