Tracking brand positioning for an emerging destination: 2003 to 2015

Few published studies have monitored destination brand image over time. This temporal aspect is an important gap in the literature, given consensus around the role perceptions play in consumers’ decision making, and the ensuing emphasis on imagery in destination branding collateral. Whereas most destination image studies have been a snapshot of perceptions at one point in time, this paper presents findings from a survey implemented four times between 2003 and 2015. Brand image is the core construct in modelling destination branding performance, which has emerged as a relatively new field of research in the past decade. Using the consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) hierarchy, the project has benchmarked and monitored destination brand salience, image and resonance for an emerging regional destination, relative to key competitors, in the domestic Australian market; and the survey instrument has been demonstrated to be reliable in the context of short break holidays by car. What is particularly interesting to date is there has been relatively little change in the market positions of the five destinations, in spite of over a decade of marketing communications by the regional tourism organisations and their stakeholders, and more recently the mass of user-generated travel content on social media. The project didn’t analyse the actual marketing communications for each of the DMOs. Therefore an important implication is that irrespective of the level of marketing undertaken the DMOs seem to have had little control over the perceptions held in their largest market during this time period. Therefore it must be recognised any improvement in perceptions will likely take a long period of time, and so branding needs to be underpinned by a philosophy of a long term financial investment as well as commitment to a consistency of message over time; which given the politics of DMO decision making represents a considerable challenge.

Metal nanoparticle photocatalysts: Emerging processes for green organic synthesis

Metal nanoparticle photocatalysts have attracted recent interest due to their strong absorption of visible and ultraviolet light. The energy absorbed by the metal conduction electrons and the intense electric fields in close proximity, created by the localized surface plasmon resonance effect, makes the crucial contribution of activating the molecules on the metal nanoparticles which facilitates chemical transformation. There are now many examples of successful reactions catalyzed by supported nanoparticles of pure metals and of metal alloys driven by light at ambient or moderate temperatures. These examples demonstrate these materials are a novel group of efficient photocatalysts for converting solar energy to chemical energy and that the mechanisms are distinct from those of semiconductor photocatalysts. We present here an overview of recent research on direct photocatalysis of supported metal nanoparticles for organic synthesis under light irradiation and discuss the significant reaction mechanisms that occur through light irradiation.

The emerging role of microRNAs in resistance to lung cancer treatments

One of the major challenges in the treatment of lung cancer is the development of drug resistance. This represents a major obstacle in the treatment of patients, limiting the efficacy of both conventional chemotherapy and biological therapies. Deciphering the mechanisms of resistance is critical to further understanding the multifactorial pathways involved, and in developing more specific targeted treatments. To date, numerous studies have reported the potential role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in resistance to various cancer treatments. MicroRNAs are a family of small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression by sequence-specific targeting of mRNAs causing translational repression or mRNA degradation. More than 1200 validated human miRNAs have been identified to date. While as little as one miRNA can regulate hundreds of targets, a single target can also be affected by multiple miRNAs. Evidence suggests that dysregulation of specific miRNAs may be involved in the acquisition of resistance to a number of cancer treatments, thereby modulating the sensitivity of cancer cells to such therapies. Therefore, targeting miRNAs may be an attractive strategy for developing novel and more effective individualized therapies, improving drug efficiency, and for predicting patient response to different treatments. In this review, we provide an overview on the role of miRNAs in resistance to current lung cancer therapies and novel biological agents.

The emerging world of small ORFs

Small open reading frames (sORFs) are an often overlooked feature of plant genomes. Initially found in plant viral RNAs and considered an interesting curiosity, an increasing number of these sORFs have been shown to encode functional peptides or play a regulatory role. The recent discovery that many of these sORFs initiate with start codons other than AUG, together with the identification of functional small peptides encoded in supposedly noncoding primary miRNA transcripts (pri-miRs), has drastically increased the number of potentially functional sORFs within the genome. Here we review how advances in technology, notably ribosome profiling (RP) assays, are complementing bioinformatics and proteogenomic methods to provide powerful ways to identify these elusive features of plant genomes, and highlight the regulatory roles sORFs can play.

Hospital social work in Australia: Emerging trends or more of the same?

Social work in health care has been established for more than 100 years and is one of the largest areas of practice for social workers. Over time, demographic changes and growth in the aging population, increased longevity rates, an explosion in rates of chronic illness together with rapidly increasing cost of health care have created serious challenges for acute hospitals and health social workers. This article reviews the Australian health care system and policies with particular emphasis on the public hospital system. It then examines current hospital social work roles, including the continued role in discharge planning and expanding responsibility for emerging client problems, such as patient complexity, legal, and carer issues. The article concludes with a discussion of evolving issues and challenges facing health social work to ensure that social work remain relevant within this practice context.