131,004 research outputs found
Identifying and clearing cultural blockages to occupational health and safety
No full textPeter Milnes, N. Melkoumian and D. Matherhttp://www.mpes2011.cmrp.kz
The Effects of extreme events on attitudes to Occupational Health and Safety
No full textNoune Melkoumian, P. Milnes and D. Matherhttp://www.mpes2011.cmrp.kz
Characterizing the role of extracellular zinc in the slow block to polyspermy for the African clawed frog
No full textFertilization of an egg by multiple sperm, a condition referred to as polyspermy, is lethal for developing embryos from nearly all sexually reproducing animals. In response, various mechanisms known as polyspermy blocks have evolved to prevent supernumerary fertilizations and the developmental problems resulting from fertilization of an egg by more than one sperm. One of the egg-based polyspermy blocks involves the release of cortical granules docked at the egg’s plasma membrane, into the extracellular milieu, a process known as the slow block to polyspermy. During the slow block, eggs from diverse animals release zinc ions, and this extracellular zinc is hypothesized to contribute to the mechanism that keeps sperm out of fertilized eggs. This hypothesis is supported by the finding that insemination of eggs from diverse species in concentrations of zinc similar to the amount released during the slow block, prevents fertilization and the initiation of embryonic development. Using fertilization in the African clawed frog Xenopus laevis, I have demonstrated that treatment of both eggs and sperm with zinc prior to insemination was sufficient to stop fertilization. Using the cell-impermeant zinc chelator ZX1, I have shown that the zinc block of fertilization is reversible in both gametes, consistent with a role for extracellular zinc in preventing fertilization. Further, I demonstrated that the zinc induced infertility phenotype of gametes can extend to other transition metals. This data indicates that extracellular zinc may target both sperm and eggs, suggesting that the classic belief that the slow block to polyspermy only changes the egg may not provide a complete picture of how multiple sperm are kept out of the nascent zygote. Understanding how zinc blocks polyspermy could have implications in optimizing clinical conditions used for in vitro fertilizations in humans
MeSH term explosion and author rank improve expert recommendations
No full textInformation overload is an often-cited phenomenon that reduces the productivity, efficiency and efficacy of scientists. One challenge for scientists is to find appropriate collaborators in their research. The literature describes various solutions to the problem of expertise location, but most current approaches do not appear to be very suitable for expert recommendations in biomedical research. In this study, we present the development and initial evaluation of a vector space model-based algorithm to calculate researcher similarity using four inputs: 1) MeSH terms of publications; 2) MeSH terms and author rank; 3) exploded MeSH terms; and 4) exploded MeSH terms and author rank. We developed and evaluated the algorithm using a data set of 17,525 authors and their 22,542 papers. On average, our algorithms correctly predicted 2.5 of the top 5/10 coauthors of individual scientists. Exploded MeSH and author rank outperformed all other algorithms in accuracy, followed closely by MeSH and author rank. Our results show that the accuracy of MeSH term-based matching can be enhanced with other metadata such as author rank
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
'She'll be right mate' - Culture and safety
No full textWhile improvements in occupational health and safety (OHS) in the mining industry have decreased fatalities and accidents, little attention has been paid to the cultural confound of ‘safety’ in the increasingly multicultural mining industry. Occupational health and safety processes often contain assumptions of cultural understanding that may not be shared or understood by mining employees. There are potentially dangerous and costly implications of cultural difference in the mining environment. Some people have been enculturated with high levels of anxiety concerning catastrophe and uncertainty while others have a more laissez faire attitude to accidents and disaster. The level of cultural anxiety about uncertainty can be a major factor in the acceptance of OHS processes. OHS manuals based on a comprehensive set of rules and procedures may assume that the authority of ‘rules’ is shared by all employees regardless of a variety of cultural understandings when this may not be the case. Similarly, cross-cultural employees may not share a background or acceptance of expensive technological innovation and so resist/avoid the application of new safety equipment. Then too, OHS staff may not realise the significance of religious belief or personal responsibility on employees’ attitudes to safety in the workplace environment. A lack of consideration of these cultural elements could have fatal and expensive results. This paper explores the impact of cultural difference in the understanding of OHS in the Mining Industry, presents a model to improve the understanding of the cultural confound in safety, improves analysis of OHS in practical multicultural situations, provides assistance for those involved in OHS training and may become a basis for developing OHS policy and procedure.P Milnes, N S Melkoumian, D Mather, T Milnes, A Stewart and L Tanhttp://www.ausimm.com.au/publications/epublication.aspx?ID=1247
Lectures on the Darwinian theory delivered by the late Arthur Milnes Marshall ...
No full textMode of access: Internet
"Closing the R&D Gap, Evaluating the Sources of R&D Spending"
No full textBoth spending and tax policies have been implemented in the United States with the goal of stimulating private sector research and development (R&D). Karier questions whether current R&D policy, especially the research and experimentation tax credit, can contribute to closing the gap between nondefense expenditures on R&D in the United States and such expenditures in other countries, such as Japan and Germany. He also explores possible changes to our current R&D policy to make it more effective.
Regulation of neuronal genomic integrity through histone deacetylase cooperativity
No full textThesis: Ph. D. in Neuroscience, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, 2017.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 113-119).While the mechanisms preserving genomic integrity are well defined in proliferating cells, corresponding pathways in postmitotic neurons remain poorly understood. In this report, I characterize the functions of two lysine deacetylases, SIRT1 and HDAC1, in the neuronal response to DNA double strand breaks (DSBs). Both SIRT1 and HDAC1 were previously shown to promote neuronal survival in a mouse model of neurodegeneration in which the appearance of DSBs precedes other neurotoxic symptoms. Here I show for the first time the recruitment of both SIRT1 and HDAC1 to sites of DNA DSBs in neurons, where they work cooperatively to coordinate DSB signaling and DNA repair. SIRT1 physically binds HDAC1 and this interaction is strengthened upon DNA damage. I demonstrate that SIRT1 deacetylates HDAC1 at a critical lysine residue, K432, and stimulates its enzymatic activity. Moreover, HDAC1 mutants that mimic a constitutively acetylated state render neurons more susceptible to DNA damaging agents, and pharmacological SIRT1 activators that promote HDAC1 deacetylation also mitigate neuronal loss in a mouse model of neurodegeneration. I propose that the interaction between SIRT1 and HDAC1 constitutes an essential step in the DNA damage response that could be exploited to enhance neuronal survival in various neurodegenerative diseases.by Matthew Milnes Dobbin.Ph. D. in Neuroscienc
- …
