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Dublin will be hosting the eighth European Veterinary Immunology Workshop (EVIW2024) from September 4 to September 6 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dublin Airport. The workshop is expected to attract veterinary scientists from across Europe in the fields of immunology and One Health. Keynote speakers will include Professor Cliona O'Farrelly, Professor Elma Tchilian, and Professor Christoph Scheiermann. The workshop will be preceded by the seventh European Congress of Immunology, which will also take place in Dublin from September 1 to September 4, 2024. The EVIW2024 program will include training workshops for students and young researchers, with a focus on knowledge transfer. Commercial partners will also contribute to the event. [Extracted from the article]

Employers are increasingly raising awareness of "microaggressions" in the workplace. However, past research has suggested that microaggression terminology can be divisive. Microaggressions are subtle, often unintentional, exchanges that are considered putdowns. This article presents a corpus-based investigation to understand how people use microaggression terminology in social and workplace contexts. We compared a novel corpus of 14,636 tweets against a Twitter reference corpus. Microaggressions were described as experienced and dealt with, while the sending of microaggressions was described using intentional verbs such as committing and perpetrating. This variation in language may create a divide between people with different experiences of microaggressions and seem incongruent to unintentional senders. The discourse regarding microaggressions in the workplace tended to be characterized by an impersonal style and nouns replacing verbs. Employers may wish to review their communications about microaggressions to ensure they do not obscure their message through extensive nominalization or density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent spring meeting of Northern Ireland's two veterinary associations, NIVA and AVSPNI, focused on controlling infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) and the changing patterns of Haemonchus contortus, a parasitic roundworm. The meeting, sponsored by MSD Animal Health Ireland, aimed to reduce the consequences of endemic diseases of livestock. The meeting featured talks by Dr. Maria Guelbenzu on eradicating IBR and Professor Eric Morgan on the rising cases of haemonchosis. The high turnout of vets demonstrated a strong will to work together with the farming community to improve the health and welfare of ruminants. [Extracted from the article]

Prior research suggests that individuals react negatively when they perceive they are underpaid. Moreover, individuals frequently select pay referents who share their race and gender, suggesting that demographic similarity affects one's knowledge of pay differences. Leveraging these insights, the authors examine whether the gender and racial composition of a work unit shapes individuals' reactions to pay deprivation. Using field data from a large health care organization, they find that pay deprivation resulting from workers receiving less pay than their same-sex and same-race coworkers prompts a significantly stronger response than does pay deprivation arising from workers receiving less pay than their demographically dissimilar colleagues. A supplemental experiment reveals that this relationship likely results from individuals' propensity to select same-category others as pay referents, shaping workers' information about their colleagues' pay. The study's findings underscore the need to theoretically and empirically account for how demographically driven social comparison processes affect reactions to pay inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introducing Lean management (LM) enables the surgical process to reach considerably high levels of performance and efficiency, in addition to increased patient safety and satisfaction among healthcare professionals. This contribution presents a consolidated model of LM which has proved highly successful in improving both overall efficiency in operation rooms and patients' perceived value of efficient hospital care. This model is based on a real case study carried out over a 3-year period. A surgical process improvement team was set up, which then designed a Process Value Flow Map using LM tools, and detected opportunities for improvement. The map reflects the patient's journey through the process, the flow of information and materials for optimising processes. Findings from the three improvement projects described in the paper were used to (1) enhance waiting list management, (2) improve operating room scheduling criteria and sharing of surgical resources, and (3) create continuous improvement teams. The results of the study are twofold: (1) reduced waiting times for operations and (2) increased efficiency of operating rooms stemming from a cultural change in surgical resources management, particularly activity planning. A notable increase in surgical efficiency indicators was also observed, as well as the need to incorporate Lean principles into surgical intervention programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does inequality between capital and labor affect immigration policy? Increasing inequality can heighten anti-immigrant attitudes among host-state workers. Yet, for labor-intensive firms, their increasing share of the value added provides more business opportunities to expand their production, which in turn leads to increased business support for open immigration. Given these countervailing pressures of rising inequality in immigration policymaking, we argue that a country's level of economic development holds the key to the causal mechanism between inequality and immigration policy openness. In less-developed economies where local and immigrant workers compete for the same jobs, rising inequality leads to more restrictive immigration policy. In advanced economies where local and immigrant workers are complements, rising inequality leads to less restrictive immigration policy. Using data on the capital share of the value added in the industrial sector as a measure of inequality in 24 democracies from 1947 to 2006, we find support for our argument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robotics, using social mechanisms like hormonal modulation, may accelerate our understanding of core sociality principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Minimum unit pricing (MUP) may reduce harmful drinking in the general population, but there is little evidence regarding its impact on marginalised groups. Our study is the first to explore the perceptions of MUP among stakeholders working with people experiencing homelessness following its introduction in Scotland in May 2018. Methods: Qualitative semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 41 professional stakeholders from statutory and third sector organisations across Scotland. We explored their views on MUP and its impact on people experiencing homelessness, service provision and implications for policy. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Participants suggested that the introduction of MUP in Scotland had negligible if any discernible impact on people experiencing homelessness and services that support them. Most service providers felt insufficiently informed about MUP prior to its implementation. Participants reported that where consequences for these populations were evident, they were primarily anticipated although some groups were negatively affected. People experiencing homelessness have complex needs in addition to alcohol addiction, and changes in the way services work need to be considered in future MUP‐related discussions. Discussion and Conclusions: This study suggests that despite initial concerns about potential unintended consequences of MUP, many of these did not materialise to the levels anticipated. As a population‐level health policy, MUP is likely to have little beneficial impact on people experiencing homelessness without the provision of support to address their alcohol use and complex needs. The additional needs of certain groups (e.g., people with no recourse to public funds) need to be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to explore participants' experiences of mental health during an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)-based guided self-help intervention to support weight management in adults with overweight or obesity during the COVID-19 pandemic (SWiM-C: Supporting Weight Management during COVID-19). We conducted semi-structured telephone interviews with twenty participants and used reflexive thematic analysis to identify patterns of meaning across the dataset relevant to mental health. Four themes were conceptualized: i) Mental health changes associated with SWiM-C, ii) External factors negatively impacted mental health and intervention engagement, iii) Use and impact of coping responses, and iv) Intervention preferences based on psychological needs. Findings suggest that participants were exposed to multiple factors, both related to and external to the intervention, that negatively impact their mental health, yet ACT-based aspects of the SWiM-C intervention appeared to support participants to adaptively manage the decline in their mental health. The findings can be used to inform the development of future weight management interventions, such as through intervention personalization and the inclusion of more strategies that target emotional regulation. Trial registration: ISRCTN 12107048, [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) is commonly associated with chronic alcohol misuse, a condition known to have multiple detrimental effects on thiamine metabolism. This study was conducted to identify genetic variants that may contribute to the development of WKS in individuals with alcohol dependence syndrome through alteration of thiamine transport into cells. Methods Exome sequencing data from a panel of genes related to alcohol metabolism and thiamine pathways were analysed in a discovery cohort of 29 individuals with WKS to identify possible genetic risk variants associated with its development. Variant frequencies in this discovery cohort were compared with European frequencies in the Genome Aggregation Database browser, and those present at significantly higher frequencies were genotyped in an additional cohort of 87 alcohol-dependent cases with WKS and 197 alcohol-dependent cognitively intact controls. Results Thirty non-synonymous variants were identified in the discovery cohort and, after filtering, 23 were taken forward and genotyped in the case–control cohort. Of these SLC19A1: rs1051266:G was nominally associated with WKS. SLC19A1 encodes the reduced folate carrier, a major transporter for physiological folate in plasma; rs1051266 is reported to impact folate transport. Thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP) efflux was significantly decreased in HEK293 cells, stably transfected with rs1051266:G, under thiamine deficient conditions when compared with the efflux from cells transfected with rs1051266:A (P  = 5.7 × 10−11). Conclusion This study provides evidence for the role of genetic variation in the SLC19A1 gene, which may contribute to the development of WKS in vivo through modulation of TPP transport in cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Islam is the primary motivating factor in the Muslim world in general and specifically in the Arab world. Whenever there is an uprising in the Muslim world it is primarily motivated by Islam or the individual get their aspiration from Islamic rhetorical slogans depicting Islamic identity and affiliation. The Arab upheaval commonly known as Arab Spring was a product primarily of the domestic and foreign factors still Islam and Islamic rhetoric was extensively used to accelerate the momentum in favor of the uprising and driving the motives of the demonstrators and many new regimes that got power in the post uprising governments were Islamists. during the course of time in the Arab Spring Isam and Isamic rhetoric was extensively used by the opposing parties, Friday sermons were a major tool in the hand of the demonstrators, the leaders of the demonstrators used to organize agitations after Friday prayers and mosques were used as offices, Islamists were divided into three groups on the basis of their aspiration to use Islam as a tool in achieving their objectives theses were a)Secular Islamists, b)Reformists Islamists c)Revolutionary Islamists. All these Islamists used Islamic rhetoric to motivate the demonstrators and chanted Islamic slogans, the findings of this research is based on content analysis of secondary data related to the use of Islamic rhetoric and it was observed that Islamic rhetoric was very effectively used in mobilizing the masses, although the results of the uprising remained geography dependent, and the outcome was also dependent on the country and place, still the impact of Islamic rhetoric is lasting and can be seen even in the post Arab Spring scenario. This paper analyzes the use of Islamic Rhetoric in the process of upheaval in the Arab world mostly understood as Arab Spring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While lean thinking has been used in healthcare for almost two decades, its efficacy has been debated extensively by researchers and practitioners alike. This ongoing debate is largely due to the varied results of its implementation; and resistance to change is considered to be the primary reason behind this variation. This study adopts an institutional logics perspective to analyze the nature of this resistance by drawing attention to how clinical staff make judgements about the appropriateness, acceptability and legitimacy of lean thinking. To conceptualize resistance, a systematic literature review based on 33 published studies depicting lean implementations was conducted, which helped to develop a nuanced understanding of resistance and its causes. Subsequently, 47 semi-structured interviews were undertaken with Quality Improvement managers regarding their experience with implementing lean thinking in 15 New Zealand District Health Boards. These interviews were used to identify and evaluate strategies used to minimize resistance within the implementation of lean initiatives in healthcare organizations. The findings of this research suggest that typically there are three strategies adopted by quality improvement managers—(1) communication strategies to create a better narrative for lean implementation; (2) cooperation strategies, which encourage the adherents of lean and medical logics to work together on shared problems, creating opportunities for them to learn about other logics; and (3) performance management strategies with the help of incentives and commitment devices to create a supportive environment for lean implementation. Together, these strategies work to improve the availability, accessibility, and activation of lean thinking logic in healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on spirit of sociologist Koichi Iwabuchi which calls study of cultural globalization by intra-Asian relation and attempt to analysis in study of transnational flow of popular culture. Topics discussed incldue opposing tendencies of Korean and Hindi popular cinemas, South Korean Film Renaissance of the 1990s which occurred within globalization and storytelling of Korean cinema that blends generic conventions of thriller with family melodrama.

Background: The long-term impact and cost-effectiveness of weight management programs depend on posttreatment weight maintenance. There is growing evidence that interventions based on third-wave cognitive behavioral therapy, particularly acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), could improve long-term weight management; however, these interventions are typically delivered face-to-face by psychologists, which limits the scalability of these types of intervention. Objective: The aim of this study is to use an evidence-, theory-, and person-based approach to develop an ACT-based intervention for weight loss maintenance that uses digital technology and nonspecialist guidance to minimize the resources needed for delivery at scale. Methods: Intervention development was guided by the Medical Research Council framework for the development of complex interventions in health care, Intervention Mapping Protocol, and a person-based approach for enhancing the acceptability and feasibility of interventions. Work was conducted in two phases: phase 1 consisted of collating and analyzing existing and new primary evidence and phase 2 consisted of theoretical modeling and intervention development. Phase 1 included a synthesis of existing evidence on weight loss maintenance from previous research, a systematic review and network meta-analysis of third-wave cognitive behavioral therapy interventions for weight management, a qualitative interview study of experiences of weight loss maintenance, and the modeling of a justifiable cost for a weight loss maintenance program. Phase 2 included the iterative development of guiding principles, a logic model, and the intervention design and content. Target user and stakeholder panels were established to inform each phase of development, and user testing of successive iterations of the prototype intervention was conducted. Results: This process resulted in a guided self-help ACT-based intervention called SWiM (Supporting Weight Management). SWiM is a 4-month program consisting of weekly web-based sessions for 13 consecutive weeks followed by a 4-week break for participants to reflect and practice their new skills and a final session at week 18. Each session consists of psychoeducational content, reflective exercises, and behavioral experiments. SWiM includes specific sessions on key determinants of weight loss maintenance, including developing skills to manage high-risk situations for lapses, creating new helpful habits, breaking old unhelpful habits, and learning to manage interpersonal relationships and their impact on weight management. A trained, nonspecialist coach provides guidance for the participants through the program with 4 scheduled 30-minute telephone calls and 3 further optional calls. Conclusions: This comprehensive approach facilitated the development of an intervention that is based on scientific theory and evidence for supporting people with weight loss maintenance and is grounded in the experiences of the target users and the context in which it is intended to be delivered. The intervention will be refined based on the findings of a planned pilot randomized controlled trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A collection of short stories from Africa and the diaspora explore transhumanism in the face of ecological collapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the transition from the traditional FMEA process to the AIAG/VDA FMEA process for process FMEA, highlighting key considerations such as learning new terminology, addressing potential complexities in system elements, and utilizing FMEA software for improved navigation and efficiency.