Relational regulation theory and the role of social support and organisational fairness for nurses in a general acute context

Aims and objectives. To present a novel approach to nurse stress by exploring the demand–control–support model with organisational justice through the lens of relational regulation theory. Background. Nursing is often stressful due to high demands and dissatisfaction with pay, which impacts the mental well-being and productivity of nurses. Design. A cross-sectional design. Methods. A validated questionnaire was sent to the work addresses of all nursing and midwifery staff in a medium-sized general acute hospital in Australia. A total of 190 nurses and midwives returned completed questionnaires for the analyses. Results. The multiple regression analyses demonstrated that the model applies to the prototypical context of a general acute hospital and that job control, supervisor support and outside work support improve the job satisfaction and mental health of nurses. Conclusions. Most importantly, supervisor support was found to buffer the impact of excessive work demands. Fairness of procedures, distribution of resources and the quality and consistency of information are also beneficial. Relational regulation theory is applied to these findings as a novel way to conceptualise the mechanisms of support and fairness in nursing. Relevance to clinical practice. The importance of nurses’ well-being and job satisfaction is a priority for improving clinical outcomes. Practically, this means nurse managers should be encouraging nurses in the pursuit of diverse relational activities both at work and outside work.

Ephemerality, affect and the "Art Dump"

This work was composed in relation to the author's research of the popularity of themes of ephemerality and affect in recent global art. This focus correlated with Chicks on Speed's ongoing inquiries into issues of collections and collecting in the artworld, articulated as 'the art dump' by the group. This work was subsequently performed as a contribution to a performance with international multidisciplinary group Chicks on Speed as a part of their residency during MONA FOMA in Tasmania.

Regulation of EP receptors in non-small cell lung cancer by epigenetic modifications

Background: Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 is frequently overexpressed in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and results in increased levels of prostaglandin E2 (PGE 2), an important signalling molecule implicated in tumourigenesis. PGE 2 exerts its effects through the E prostanoid (EP) receptors (EPs1-4). Methods: The expression and epigenetic regulation of the EPs were evaluated in a series of resected fresh frozen NSCLC tumours and cell lines. Results: EP expression was dysregulated in NSCLC being up and downregulated compared to matched control samples. For EPs1, 3 and 4 no discernible pattern emerged. EP2 mRNA however was frequently downregulated, with low levels being observed in 13/20 samples as compared to upregulation in 5/20 samples examined. In NSCLC cell lines DNA CpG methylation was found to be important for the regulation of EP3 expression, the demethylating agent decitabine upregulating expression. Histone acetylation was also found to be a critical regulator of EP expression, with the histone deacteylase inhibitors trichostatin A, phenylbutyrate and suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid inducing increased expression of EPs2-4. Direct chromatin remodelling was demonstrated at the promoters for EPs2-4. Conclusions: These results indicate that EP expression is variably altered from tumour to tumour in NSCLC. EP2 expression appears to be predominantly downregulated and may have an important role in the pathogenesis of the disease. Epigenetic regulation of the EPs may be central to the precise role COX-2 may play in the evolution of individual tumours. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Transcriptional regulation of IRS5/DOK4 expression in non-small-cell lung cancer cells

The insulin-receptor substrate family plays important roles in cellular growth, signaling, and survival. Two new members of this family have recently been isolated: IRS5/Dok4 and IRS6/Dok5. This study examines the expression of IRS5/DOK4 in a panel of lung cancer cell lines and tumor specimens. The results demonstrate that expression of IRS5/DOK4 is frequently altered with both elevated and decreased expression in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumor specimens. The altered expression of IRS5/DOK4 observed in tumor samples is not due to aberrant methylation. In vitro cell culture studies demonstrate that treatment of NSCLC cell lines with the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) upregulates IRS5/DOK4. This finding indicates that expression is regulated epigenetically at the level of chromatin remodeling. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments confirm that the IRS5/DOK4 promoter has enhanced histone hyperacetylation following treatments with TSA. Finally, hypoxia was demonstrated to downregulate IRS5/DOK4 expression. This expression was restored by TSA. The clinical relevance of altered IRS5/DOK4 expression in NSCLC requires fur ther evaluation.

bcl-2 and c-erbB-2 proteins are involved in the regulation of VEGF and of thymidine phosphorylase angiogenic activity in non-small-cell lung cancer

Tumour angiogenesis has been recently recognised as one of the most important prognostic factors in lung cancer. Although a variety of angiogenic factors have been identified, the angiogenesis process remains poorly understood. Bcl-2, c-erbB-2 and p53 are well-known oncogenes involved in non- small-cell lung cancer pathogenesis. A direct correlation of thymidine phosphorylase (TP) and of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) with intratumoural angiogenesis has been reported. In the present study we investigated the possible regulatory role if bcl-2, c-erB-2 proteins in angiogenesis and in VEGF and TP expression in non-small-cell lung cancer. Two hundred sixteen specimens from T1,2-NO, 1 staged patients treated with surgery alone were immunohistochemically examined. Bcl-2 and c-erbB-2 were significantly inversely related to each other (P = 0.04) and both were inversely associated with microvessel density (P < 0.02). High TP and VEGF reactivity was statistically related to loss of bcl-2 expression (P < 0.01). A significant co-expression of c-erbB-2 with TP was noted (P = 0.01). However, TP expression was related to high angiogenesis only in cases with absence of c-erB-2 expression (P < 0.0001). c-erbB-2 expression in poorly vascularised tumours was linked with poor outcome (P = 0.03). The present study provides strong evidence that the bcl-2 gene has a suppressive function over genes involved in both angiogenesis (VEGF and TP) and cell migration (c- erbB-2) in NSCLC. TP and c-erbB-2 proteins are significantly, and often simultaneously, expressed in bcl-2 negative cases. However, expression of the c-erbB-2 abolishes the TP-related angiogenic activity. Whether this is a result of a direct activity of the c-erbB-2 protein or a consequence of a c- erbB-2-related immune response remains to be further investigated.

Epigenetic regulation of glucose transporters in non-small cell lung cancer

Due to their inherently hypoxic environment, cancer cells often resort to glycolysis, or the anaerobic breakdown of glucose to form ATP to provide for their energy needs, known as the Warburg effect. At the same time, overexpression of the insulin receptor in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is associated with an increased risk of metastasis and decreased survival. The uptake of glucose into cells is carried out via glucose transporters or GLUTs. Of these, GLUT-4 is essential for insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. Following treatment with the epigenetic targeting agents histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi), GLUT-3 and GLUT-4 expression were found to be induced in NSCLC cell lines, with minimal responses in transformed normal human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs). Similar results for GLUT-4 were observed in cells derived from liver, muscle, kidney and pre-adipocytes. Bioinformatic analysis of the promoter for GLUT-4 indicates that it may also be regulated by several chromatin binding factors or complexes including CTCF, SP1 and SMYD3. Chromatin immunoprecipitation studies demonstrate that the promoter for GLUT-4 is dynamically remodeled in response to HDACi. Overall, these results may have value within the clinical setting as (a) it may be possible to use this to enhance fluorodeoxyglucose (18F) positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) imaging sensitivity; (b) it may be possible to target NSCLC through the use of HDACi and insulin mediated uptake of the metabolic targeting drugs such as 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG); or (c) enhance or sensitize NSCLC to chemotherapy. © 2011 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Queer criminology, critique, and the "art of not being governed"

This article builds on previous work that argues that a useful path for a ‘‘queer/ed criminology’’ to follow is one that takes ‘‘queer’’ to denote a position. It suggests that one way of developing such an approach is to adopt a particular understanding of critique—specifically one that draws from Michel Foucault’s view of critique as ‘‘the art of not being governed.’’ It then charts some of the possible directions for such a ‘‘queer/ed criminology.’’ While such an approach to critique has previously been discussed within critical criminologies, this article suggests that it is useful for queer criminologists to explore the opportunities that it affords, particularly in order to better appreciate how ‘‘queer/ed criminology’’ might connect to, draw from, or push against other currents among critical criminologies, and help to delineate the unique contribution that this kind of ‘‘queer/ed criminology’’ might make.

Worldly feelings made material : cosmopolitan aesthetics, affect and recent relational art

The openness and compassion implicit in the social transaction of recent philosophies of cosmopolitanism is reflected in the aims of the body of interpersonal, process-driven artworks commonly referred to as relational art. In attempting to bring art into life, specifically as a point of intervention in the lives of its spectators, the affective power required to realize the communal and participatory aims of many of these artworks is central. Relational art practices invite the individualising distinctiveness of the spectator yet ultimately seek the collective affect of the artwork’s formulated community. Like cosmopolitanism, this is a felt community where the obligatory affective investment is imagined as open and empathic built on mutual exchange and generosity. They suggest that it doesn’t matter so much what we feel about art but what and how we feel through art. The artworld’s public spheres have become increasingly affective worlds, where the artwork’s coerced and managed human relations are conceived as interstices for a more open exchange with art and each other. With reference to Sydney Biennale’s recent All My Relations exhibition, this paper will interrogate how worldly feelings are made material by the requisite emotional and aesthetic labour of feeling for and with others in relational art.

Always “tasty”, regardless: Art, chocolate and Indigenous Australians

This paper examines race and colour through the metaphor of chocolate. The authors use the metaphor of chocolate to question why some Aboriginal people are chosen ahead of others, with the choosing done by non-Indigenous people, perhaps on the basis of who is most likely to be “soft-centred”, agreeable, and pliable. The authors discuss the development of the Hot Chocolate art exhibition in Adelaide in 2012, with a particular focus on the works of Pamela CroftWarcon. The exhibition combined chocolate (the food), lyrics from Hot Chocolate (the band), and chocolate (the metaphor for skin colour) to encourage visitors to question their assumptions about representations of Aboriginal people in Australia.

Regulation of dormancy in barley by blue light and after-ripening : effects on abscisic acid and gibberellin metabolism

White light strongly promotes dormancy in freshly harvested cereal grains, whereas dark and after-ripening have the opposite effect. We have analyzed the interaction of light and after-ripening on abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellin (GA) metabolism genes and dormancy in barley (Hordeum vulgare ‘Betzes’). Analysis of gene expression in imbibed barley grains shows that different ABA metabolism genes are targeted by white light and after-ripening. Of the genes examined, white light promotes the expression of an ABA biosynthetic gene, HvNCED1, in embryos. Consistent with this result, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays show that dormant grains imbibed under white light have higher embryo ABA content than grains imbibed in the dark. After-ripening has no effect on expression of ABA biosynthesis genes, but promotes expression of an ABA catabolism gene (HvABA8′OH1), a GA biosynthetic gene (HvGA3ox2), and a GA catabolic gene (HvGA2ox3) following imbibition. Blue light mimics the effects of white light on germination, ABA levels, and expression of GA and ABA metabolism genes. Red and far-red light have no effect on germination, ABA levels, or HvNCED1. RNA interference experiments in transgenic barley plants support a role of HvABA8′OH1 in dormancy release. Reduced HvABA8′OH1 expression in transgenic HvABA8′OH1 RNAi grains results in higher levels of ABA and increased dormancy compared to nontransgenic grains.

A clear view of costs ‘of and incidental to’ : Mio Art Pty Ltd v Macequest (No.2) Pty Ltd [2013] QSC 271

In Mio Art Pty Ltd v Macequest (No.2) Pty Ltd [2013] QSC 271 Jackson J provided considered analysis of several aspects of costs law. His Honour regarded various orders which are commonly sought or made as reflecting practice that is inappropriate or unnecessary under the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld) (UCPR).

It's just an old apron : aprons, artefacts and art - representations of personal and private 'her-stories', as public histories

This paper examines art and artefact in the representation and recollection of deeply personal WWII women’s experiences as POW’s under the Japanese. This kind of treatment of internees in the Tjideng Women and Children’s internment camp (and others) in Batavia under the Japanese in WWII, stands in stark and brutal contrast to the idyllic life lived by many families up to that time in what was then known as the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia). The deprivation and brutality of the Japanese incarceration of these women and children evoked responses - not military, but certainly militant, if muted. Representations of those responses – as both art and artefact - may be found in the most unlikely places and unexpected forms - and are still being unearthed to this day. However close we might personally be to these artists and artisans, can we, as observers from a distance, ever truly comprehend through spoken or written words alone, the day-today realities of those extraordinary times?

Can water security be achieved in the urban environment through the implementation of the Neo Institutional theory government regulation and legislation?

The research seeks to address the current global water crisis and the built environments effect on the increasing demand for sustainability and water security. The fundamental question in determining the correct approach for water security in the built environment is whether government regulation and legislation could provide the framework for sustainable development and the conscious shift providing that change is the only perceivable option, there is no alternative. This article will attempt to analyse the value of the neo institutional theory as a method for directing individuals and companies to conform to water saving techniques. As is highlighted throughout the article, it will be investigated whether an incentive verse punishment approach to government legislations and regulations would provide the framework required to ensure water security within the built environment. Individuals and companies make certain choices or perform certain actions not because they fear punishment or attempt to conform; neither do they do so because an action is appropriate or feels some sort of social obligation. Instead, the cognitive element of neo institutionalism suggests that individuals make certain choices because they can conceive no alternative. The research seeks to identify whether sustainability and water security can become integrated into all aspects of design and architecture through the perception that 'there is no alternative.' This report seeks to address the omission of water security in the built environment by reporting on a series of investigations, interviews, literature reviews, exemplars and statistics relating to the built environment and the potential for increased water security. The results and analysis support the conclusions that through the support of government and local council, sustainability in the built environment could be achieved and become common practice for developments. Highlighted is the approach required for water management systems integration into the built environment and how these can be developed and maintained effectively between cities, states, countries and cultures.

Mouse estrous cycle regulation of vaginal versus uterine cytokines, chemokines, α-/β-defensins and TLRs

This study investigates the cyclic changes in innate immunity in the female reproductive tract (FRT) of mice during the estrous cycle. By examining uterine and vaginal tissues and secretions we show that innate immunity varies with the stage of the estrous cycle and site in the FRT. Secretions from the uterine lumen contained cytokines and chemokines that were significantly higher at proestrus and estrus relative to that measured at diestrus. In contrast, analysis of vaginal secretions indicated that only IL-1β and CXCL1/mouse KC changed during the cycle, with highest levels measured at diestrus and estrus. In contrast, vaginal α-defensin 2 and β-defensins 1-4 mRNA levels peaked at proestrus and estrus and are expressed 1-4 logs greater than that seen in the uterus. These studies further indicate that TLR5 and TLR12 in the uterus, and TLR1, TLR2, TLR5 and TLR13 in the vagina varies with stage of the estrous cycle, with some peaking at proestrus/estrus and others at diestrus. Overall, these studies indicate that innate immune parameters in the uterus and vagina are separate and discrete, and regulated precisely during the estrous cycle.