<p>Microbes have been suggested to have a strong impact on the transportation of chlorine in soils. There are speculations about environmental factors limiting microbial effect on chlorine movement and retention. For this study, a numerical hydrochemical model was built to describe microbial transformation of chlorine in a laboratory lysimeter experiment. Undisturbed soil cores used to set-up the experiment were collected from a coniferous forest soil in southeast Sweden. The lysimeters were modelled in groups depending on their different water and chloride treatments. Microbial transformation of chlorine was better described under high water residence times and high chloride loads compared to low water residence times and low chloride loads. Microbial activity was also shown to properly account for a sudden shift from net-chlorine retention to net chlorine release in most of the lysimeters. Oxygen proved to be very important in accounting for the short-term shift from chloride retention to release in all the lysimeters. Model outcome revealed that 0.02– 0.10 mg Cl- could be available per day in a coniferous soil depending on season and other soil conditions. This study shows that modeling enable a better understanding of chlorine biogeochemistry. It also confirms the speculated importance of microbial activities on chloride availability in soils.</p>

<p>Aim of this paper is to describe and analyze why customers come back to the restaurants, what influence their decisions. During the research we formulate 2 hypotheses. Hypotheses 1 – most reasons of the restaurants’ customers retention can be associated with restaurants’ service elements adapted from the 8Ps of Service Marketing Model. Hypotheses 2 - retention and loyalty have unidirectional relation – loyalty means retention of the customer, but retained customer doesn’t mean loyal. The results of empirical research support both hypotheses. Also during the empirical research we have highlighted some interesting results which are visualized in Illustration 5.1, Illustration 5.2 and Illustration 5.3. In research qualitative and quantitative approaches are used. Data collection method is interview. One deep interview was conducted with restaurant manager in order to enhance the quality of results interpretation. The results of the research can be used by marketers especially in restaurant sphere in order to better understand what influence customers’ behavior and why they come back to the service provider. Also restaurants’ managers can use our findings as a tool to increase the retention rates by adjusting relevant restaurants’ service elements within their restaurant.</p>

<p><font face="Times New Roman"> <p align="left">The results emanating from the study indicate that Work Environment variables played the most crucial role in retaining Black talent in the organisation at which the research was undertaken. There were significant relationships between some of the biographical variables and retention, and the four retention factors significantly explained the variance in retention. Recommendations based on the data were made to various stakeholders in order to address the existing problem, while simultaneously protecting the rights to confidentiality of the respondents.</p> </font></p>

Microbes have been suggested to have a strong impact on the transportation of chlorine in soils. There are speculations about environmental factors limiting microbial effect on chlorine movement and retention. For this study, a numerical hydrochemical model was built to describe microbial transformation of chlorine in a laboratory lysimeter experiment. Undisturbed soil cores used to set-up the experiment were collected from a coniferous forest soil in southeast Sweden. The lysimeters were modelled in groups depending on their different water and chloride treatments. Microbial transformation of chlorine was better described under high water residence times and high chloride loads compared to low water residence times and low chloride loads. Microbial activity was also shown to properly account for a sudden shift from net-chlorine retention to net chlorine release in most of the lysimeters. Oxygen proved to be very important in accounting for the short-term shift from chloride retention to release in all the lysimeters. Model outcome revealed that 0.02– 0.10 mg Cl- could be available per day in a coniferous soil depending on season and other soil conditions. This study shows that modeling enable a better understanding of chlorine biogeochemistry. It also confirms the speculated importance of microbial activities on chloride availability in soils.

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Corticosteroid ligands activate the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). GR plays a role in glucose homeostasis, adipogenesis, inflammation, and mood and cognitive functions. Understanding the interplay of diverse forms of receptor regulation (including post-translational modification, cofactor interactions, ligand binding, and receptor localization) and their effects is important for understanding and developing more effective treatment for a variety of conditions. Prior to ligand binding, the naïve GR is primarily cytoplasmic, residing in a chaperone complex containing heat-shock proteins and immunophilins. Upon ligand-binding, alterations to the complex allow the receptor to dimerize and import into the nucleus. Nuclear GR interacts with transcriptional regulatory sequences and recruits cofactors to regulate specific gene expression. Upon hormone withdrawal, the original chaperone complex is reassembled and the receptor is exported to the cytoplasm. Interestingly, while the import of GR into the nucleus occurs very rapidly (t ½ = 5 min), the re-export is significantly slower (t ½ = 12-24h). Previous work by our lab and others has indicated the existence of a nuclear retention signal (NRS) within the GR. The NRS sequence of the GR, its interaction partners, and the role it might play in the activity of the receptor have not yet been fully defined. Work in the Hache lab indicates that mutation of the GR nuclear localization signal 1 (NL1) increases the export rate of nuclear GR to the cytoplasm, as well as compromising receptor import, suggesting that the NL1 overlapped an NRS sequence. In this work, I made a series of GR mutants, based on sequence from the SV40 large T antigen NLS, which lacks nuclear retention activity. Using these mutants, I found that GR nuclear retention is influenced by both specific residues within the hinge region and the location of the sequence within the receptor, as reintroduction of the NLS sequence at the N-terminus of the receptor retention mutant failed to reconstitute the retention activity. Agonist liganded and hormone-withdrawn receptor mutants showed a similar decrease in retention. By contrast, antagonist-withdrawn GR mutants were retained in the nucleus, possibly due to altered receptor configuration and interactions. Assays of GR-responsive promoter activation by receptor retention mutants showed that while no difference in the ability of retention mutants to activate transcription was seen at a simple promoter, activation of a complex promoter was compromised. This impaired transactivation for the SV506-523 mutant correlated with decreased histone H4 acetylation and PolII recruitment, while GR DNA-binding at the target promoter appeared to be unaffected. These results suggested that promoter-specific cofactor interactions might be implicated in GR nuclear retention. Loss of GR hinge interaction with Oct cofactors produced an incomplete loss of retention, suggesting overlapping signals, but not supporting Oct as a primary factor in GR retention. The overlap between important residues in GR nuclear retention and localization signals and the lack of retention shown by the SV40 NLS suggested that retention might be intrinsic to the sequence of particular NLS. Preliminary results suggest that the KT511-512 residues of GR may be of general importance in protein nuclear retention, while the role of proline is likely more variable. My research has focused on increasing our understanding of glucocorticoid receptor nuclear retention and its possible implications. I have determined that the KT511-512 residues of GR play an important role in its retention, and possibly also figure in nuclear retention of other proteins. These residues are involved in interactions which affect promoter-specific histone acetylation and transcriptional activation in GR, suggesting a reason for the existence of nuclear retention.

Postoperative urinary retention (PUR) is a common problem seen after surgery, particularly after orthopedic surgery. There has been a great deal of research done surrounding the causes of PUR and the optimal treatment for PUR, all with conflicting results. Little research has been done with orthopedic nurses to find out how they actually treat PUR, and on what information they base those treatment decisions. Evidence-based practice has been gaining popularity recently and highlights the need for nurses to make treatment decisions based on sound research, patient preferences, clinical expertise, and taking into consideration health care resources and the clinical setting (DiCenso, Ciliska, & Guyatt, 2005). This study investigated nurses' views on the definition of PUR, how they assessed for PUR, how they treated PUR and what they based their treatment decisions on. Ten nurses who worked on orthopedic units were interviewed using a semi-structured format consisting of four questions. The interviews were recorded and then transcribed verbatim by the student researcher. Qualitative description, as described by Sandelowski (2000), was used to analyze data. All nurses defined PUR fairly similarly. Various contributing factors for PUR were mentioned, some that were studied in the literature, and some that were not. Each nurse had a slightly different way of treating PUR, and 'ward routine' was also described differently. Study results point to a need for more research and education in the area of PUR so that all nurses are treating PUR in the same manner based on the same sound knowledge base.

The study contributes to the growing literature on the role of social economy enterprises on rural vitality, by examining the relationship between credit union activity and community population growth in rural Canada. A preliminary qualitative inquiry indicated that while most of the business policies and practices of a chartered bank and a credit union are similar, a credit union, in addition, extended non-traditional lending to their clients in the form of micro-lending and also participated actively in community development lending. Following the preliminary qualitative investigation, the impact of credit unions was examined using spatial regressions models in seven provinces in Canada using data at Consolidated Census Subdivisions (CCSs) level data to represent communities. Motivated by the potential role of credit unions as community based financial institutions, the quantitative analysis modeled credit unions as potentially reducing transactions costs for local businesses.<p> Regression results indicated that the presence of credit unions was statistically significant and positive in our most parsimonious models including only natural amenity factors, agglomeration measures and other social measures as explanatory variables. However, in the full model with economic variables added the credit union dummy lost its statistical significance. A possible interpretation is that the credit union dummy is an inadequate representation of credit union activity. More complete, high quality, quantitative data to reflect their activities in the community may have produced different results.<p> Recent credit union mergers are designed to increase their capacity and efficiency in providing services to their members. However, these new trends could aggravate the principal-agent problems. As credit unions become more bank-like though mergers, individual branches may lose their links with their local communities and their ability to perform their traditional functions.

Although the percentage of Aboriginal youth who leave school prior to completion is declining, it remains higher than that of non-Aboriginal students. The following research questions frame this narrative inquiry:<p> 1. What are the stories of six Aboriginal students who graduated from an urban provincial high school?<p> 2. What factors do they perceive as contributing to their success in completing an academic grade twelve?<p> 3. What recommendations do they have for educators and schools, which would benefit current Aboriginal students?<p> The six participants are introduced with a narrative account of the interviews between the researcher and each participant. The researcher looked for commonalities that emerged from the participants' stories and grouped them into three broad themes: Our Environment, Our Relationships, and Ourselves. Within the themes the researcher commented on specific experiences and opinions expressed by the participants. A number of the participants' original stories are combined and included to allow their voice to authenticate the findings.<p> Participants revealed how interconnected relationships contributed to their academic success. Positive relationships with family, friends, and teachers were factors participants expressed most frequently as contributing to their success. Some of the participants, however, identified negative peer pressure, lack of family and school support, and discrimination, but all participants showed ability to cope with adversity. The values and inner strength participants maintained emerged in their stories demonstrating the strong relationship they had with their inner selves.<p> A list of recommendations for high schools, generated by participants, accompanies each theme. Recommendations included recognizing and taking action toward issues such as discrimination, gangs, and lack of student involvement in school activities. Participants recommended alternative counselling and academic support programs. Recommendations aiding in the development of positive student-teacher relationships were generated from the descriptions of effective and ineffective teaching practices. The most significant recommendations rising from the stories of the six participants focused on building community in the school and bridging families and local resources with the school. Most importantly, participants acknowledged the need for schools to be conscious of the diversity in traditional practices, home life, and culture among urban Aboriginal students.

The critical and growing shortage of nurses is a global concern. The growth and sustainability of the nursing profession depends on the ability to recruit and retain the upcoming generation of professionals. Understanding the career choice experiences of Millennial nurses is a critical component of recruitment and retention strategies. An interpretive, narrative methodology, was used to understand how Millennial explain, account for, and make sense of their choice of nursing as a career. Individual, face to face interviews were conducted with 12 Millennial Nursing students (born 1980 or after), for whom nursing was their preferred career choice. Participants were interviewed twice and chronicled their career choice experiences within reflective journals. Data was analyzed using Polkinghorne’s method of narrative configuration and emplotment. The participants’ narratives present a shift from understanding career choice within a virtuous plot to one of social positioning. Career choice was initially emplotted around a traditional and stereotypical understanding of nursing as a virtuous profession: altruistic, noble, caring, and compassionate. The narrative scripts evolved from positioning nursing as virtuous towards understanding the meaning of career choice in relation to one’s position in the social world. The narratives position career choice in relation to the participants’ desire for autonomy, respect and quality of life. Pragmatic considerations such as lifestyle, job security, salary and social status were also emphasized. The narratives represent career choice as a complex consideration of social positioning, fraught with hopes, dreams, doubts and tensions. The participants’ perceptions and expectations in relation to their future nursing careers were influenced by a historical and stereotypical understanding of nursing; an image that remains prevalent in society. Insight gained from this inquiry can inform recruitment, education, socialization and retention strategies for the upcoming and future generations of nurses.