138 research outputs found
The Governance of Global Industry Associations:The Role of Micro-Politics
No full textThis insightful book examines the role of micro-politics in the life of global industry associations. Karsten Ronit addresses the various rules and norms required to administer these associations, highlighting the importance of managing variations in complex member demands and responding to expectations in their institutional environment. Posing a variety of empirical and theoretical challenges, the author charts the state of the art in the study of industry associations, evaluating the current condition of research in the field. Ronit offers a systematic approach to the role of global industry associations, identifying, classifying and analysing the diverse population of industry associations and the expressions of micro-politics that occur within them. Addressing key dilemmas such as leadership, resource allocation and regulation, Ronit examines the many policy areas in which industry associations are active and the areas in which their activities overlap with other policy actors. Offering a critical conceptual exploration of the significance of industry associations, this cutting-edge book is crucial reading for scholars and students researching business and politics, particularly those interested in associational governance in global industries. It will also benefit practitioners working in business associations and consulting firms, as well as policymakers addressing industry association
אהב (to love) in the Bible:a Cognitive Evolutionary Approach
No full textThis chapter is based on Merlin Donald’s theory about the three stages of human cognitive evolution — the mimetic, mythic, and theoretic cognitive strategies. The author will show how these three concepts help understand and describe the use of the verb “to love” (אהב) in the Bible. The concepts help categorize the various biblical texts into text of mimetic, mythic, and theoretic cognitions, and this categorization helps to understand how the meaning of the verb develops by blending its meaning from the mimetic (Song of Songs) through mythic (biblical narratives) to theoretic cognition (legal texts) . Ignoring this developing and the effect of ratcheting these cognition one after the other skews the understanding of the verb. Understanding biblical love as hierarchical ignores the date in the Song of Song, and mourning its one-sidedness is reading modern notions into the biblical verb. emotions cultural evolution Merlin Donald culture and cognition..
Relieving Mucus Flake Burden in Cystic Fibrosis
Full text linkDehydration of the mucus in the lung airway is a hallmark of cystic fibrosis (CF) airway disease. In CF, mucins—the key gel-forming polymeric component of mucus—are elevated in airway mucus. Roughly half of the mucins present in mucus are found in non-swelling gels termed “mucus flakes.” Elevated mucus flake density is an indicator of CF disease and airflow obstruction. However, little is known about the factors that instruct flake formation or whether flakes can be therapeutically dissolved. Progress in understanding flakes is limited by the complexities of collecting and analyzing samples from human subjects.
We aim to identify the factors that promote mucus flake formation, allowing us to develop novel therapeutic approaches to dissolve them. A unique feature of our approach includes the de novo synthesis of mucus flakes from mucins isolated from human epithelial cells as a strategy to mimic flake structure and biochemical interactions. This strategy provides experimental tunability that will greatly enhance our understanding of flake formation and provide a platform to screen novel therapies to dissolve them. We tested the effects of various doses and combinations of a calcium chelator, reducing agent, surfactant, and known mucolytic as potential mucus flake dissolution agents. We found that the reducing agent, calcium chelator, surfactant, and cocktails of these reagents triggered significant flake swelling, resulting in increased water solubility, which may improve airway mucosal clearance. The calcium chelator and treatment cocktails also reduced flake number, which may reflect the dissolution of flakes, whereas the reducing agent and surfactant increased flake number and may demonstrate flake crumbling. This flake dissolution and crumbling may revert CF mucus to a healthy state.
This novel approach allows us to screen potential early treatments to delay the onset of lung disease in CF patients and to establish treatment effectiveness.Bachelor of Scienc
MOLECULAR DYNAMICS MODELING OF HETEROGENEOUS STRUCTURE AND RHEOLOGY OF HUMAN LUNG MUCUS
Full text linkThe author and collaborators develop what is currently the most detailed and chemically accurate molecular dynamics model of human airway mucus based on the chemical and physical properties of the commonly occurring gel-forming mucin MUC5B. This model uses the LAMMPS open-source molecular dynamics platform [https://lammps.sandia.gov] both in its runtime and for a portion of the associated data analysis. Building upon this platform, the chemical and physical structure and properties of MUC5B are represented through the facilitation of transient, proximity-based, non-covalent interactions between various portions of the mucin’s chemical structure. The model represents mucus at a spatial resolution of approximately 9 nanometers and a temporal resolution on the order of 1 nanosecond, analyzing mucus at a scale that is difficult to access using other measures. The model is first used to examine a hypothesis that mucus dehydration, represented in the form of elevated concentrations of mucins, is sufficient to generate dense structures called flakes which are known to occur in individuals with cystic fibrosis. The model first confirms that, at some interaction strengths within the range hypothesized experimentally, an increase in mucin concentration from 1.5 mg/mL to 5.0 mg/mL is sufficient to alter the structural changes observed in scanning electron microscopy images taken using synthetic experimental mucus, along with associated effects on the computationally observed rheology of the mucus. The simulation datasets are further post-processed to generate sample structures, albeit at a smaller scale than the structures observed experimentally. Next, an even more detailed model is developed by improving the physical faithfulness of the potential function used to facilitate transient hydrophobic interactions, as well as by expanding the parameter space reached in the model. This builds upon the previous modeling work by replacing the original potential with one that extends to a shorter distance than that used for electrostatic interactions, diminishing further the effect of the hydrophobic interactions on the structures which form both in mucus from healthy individuals and from individuals with respiratory pathologies. Furthermore, the difference in potentials causes a “core- shell” structure to form at certain combinations of parameter values, where the further-reaching electrostatic interactions cause groups of beads to form a core structure which eventually becomes surrounded by a partial shell of beads experiencing hydrophobic interactions. At other interaction strengths, the termini which experience hydrophobic interactions quickly form dense clusters, even in cases where electrostatic interactions are weaker and therefore do not typically have a strong effect. This variety of spatial organization found in the structures which form within the simulated mucus suggests that chemical changes to the saltwater solvent within mucus may have significant effects on the structures which form within the mucus, a result which may have ramifications in the study of pharmaceutical drug delivery in individuals with lung pathologies which affect the concentration and composition of their lung mucus.Doctor of Philosoph
From Egypt to Israel: Silenced and Explosive Footsteps According to The Sound of Our Footsteps, by Ronit Matalon
No full textA complexidade da vida de imigrantes judeus que foram obrigados a deixar o Egito e se instalaram em Israel há mais de meio século não significou para muitos deles uma possibilidade de ascensão na vida; ao contrário, a antiga posição de acomodamento foi substituída por um rebaixamento inesperado que somente atingiria um desejado equilíbrio na geração seguinte. Neste romance semiautobiográfico, Kol tseadeinu (O som de nossos passos, Am Oved, Tel Aviv, 2008), Ronit Matalon – filha de pais oriundos do Egito -, expõe a própria situação familiar. O verdadeiro ou fictício abonado padrão da família é substituído pelas duras condições de sobrevivência de tripla jornada de trabalho da mãe, ao qual se acresce o quase total abandono por parte do pai jornalista e ativista político marxista, insatisfeito com os moldes que o Israel de então lhes proporcionou na categoria de imigrantes mizrachim, ou seja, judeus provenientes de países árabes. O pai embarca em lutas para denunciar o modelo discriminador do país. A narrativa não linear do romance, conduzida pela filha - alter ego da autora, no papel de testemunha – da tenra idade à idade adulta, se concentra principalmente na mãe, Lucette, e sua atuação de lutadora para se sobrepor ao pequeno mundo a que fora restringida no novo país e à sua condição de esposa semiabandonada. Inconformada, “a mãe” abala a casa – um precário barracão pré-fabricado -, com suas movimentações. “A casa” – a vida da família – praticamente é sinônimo de “a mãe”. O propósito desse texto, além de situar a posição do romance na literatura hebraica contemporânea, é delinear o enfrentamento da mulher que conduz a sua vida e a de seus familiares para a frente, dos seus passos silenciosos, como se lê no primeiro capítulo, aos passos de toda a família, como expostos quase no final do alentado romance.The complexity of Jewish immigrants’ life who were forced to leave Egypt and settled in Israel more than half a century ago did not mean for many of them a possibility of advancement in life; rather, the old position of accommodation was replaced by an unexpected demotion that would only reach a desired equilibrium in the next generation. In this semi-autobiographical novel, Kol tseadeinu (The Sound of Our Footsteps, Am Oved, Tel Aviv, 2008), Ronit Matalon – daughter of Egyptian parents - exposes the family situation itself. The true or fictitious family standard is replaced by harsh conditions of survival of the mother\u27s triple work day, to which is added the almost total abandonment by the journalist and Marxist political activist father, dissatisfied with the molds that Israel then provided for them in the category of mizrachim immigrants, that is, Jews coming from Arab countries. The father embarks on struggles to denounce the country\u27s discriminating model. The non-linear narrative of the novel, conducted by the daughter - the author\u27s alter ego, in the role of witness - from an early age to adulthood, focuses mainly on the mother, Lucette, and her performance as a fighter to overcome the small world to which she was restricted in the new country and her condition of semi-abandoned wife. Dissatisfied, “the mother” shakes the house – a precarious prefabricated shed - with her movements. “The house” – the family life – is practically synonymous with “the mother”. The purpose of this text, in addition to situating the position of the novel in contemporary Hebrew literature, is to outline the confrontation of the woman who leads her and her family’s life forward, from her silent steps, as we read in the first chapter, to the steps of the whole family, as exposed towards the end of this lively romance
A Biomaterials Approach to Increasing the Persistence of Induced Neural Stem Cells in the Glioblastoma Tumor Resection Cavity
Full text linkDespite medical and technological advances, the survival statistics for patients diagnosed with glioblastoma have remained stagnant for more than three decades. The invasiveness and high recurrence rate of glioblastoma leave both local and systemic therapies ineffective and the median survival at an abysmal 12-15 months post-diagnosis. To combat this deadly disease, researchers have employed induced neural stem cells (iNSCs). Derived from a patient’s fibroblasts, iNSCs have shown the remarkable ability to home to and kill distant tumor foci when engineered with lentiviruses encoding cytotoxic proteins and a stem cell-specific transcription factor. Yet, when injected into the brain parenchyma in a saline suspension, iNSCs are cleared in less than two weeks, thus limiting therapeutic durability. Previous studies have reported that by encapsulating iNSCs in a biomaterial matrix, persistence can be significantly improved. This dissertation explores how increasing the persistence of iNSCs in vivo impacts therapeutic durability and overall survival. Additionally, the safety and toxicity profile of iNSCs, delivered in both a biomaterial matrix and injected intracerebroventricularly, is characterized in a canine model. Lastly, a bio-inspired matrix for reducing cost and increasing throughput of cell therapy studies is presented.Doctor of Philosoph
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