Conclusions

Author(s):  
Alan Treadgold ◽  
Jonathan Reynolds

A central defining thesis has framed the content of this book; namely that the retail industry globally is in the early stages of a transformation which will be more profound and far-reaching than any which has gone before. This chapter summarizes the key themes explored in the book. It is suggested that, for many, the opportunities in the new landscape of retailing are likely to be greater than the challenges presented. It is also suggested that there is no single roadmap for achieving success in the new landscape. There are, however, building blocks that retail enterprises and their leaders will need to have if they are to be successful. The chapter identifies and discusses five: being truly customer centric; being digitally skilled; embracing innovation; emphasizing strong, clear company values and demonstrating effective leadership.

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (S334) ◽  
pp. 29-33
Author(s):  
Baslio Santiago ◽  
Elmer Luque ◽  
Adriano Pieres ◽  
Anna Bárbara Queiroz

AbstractThe stellar spheroidal components of the Milky-Way contain the oldest and most metal poor of its stars. Inevitably the processes governing the early stages of Galaxy evolution are imprinted upon them. According to the currently favoured hierarchical bottom-up scenario of galaxy formation, these components, specially the Galactic halo, are the repository of most of the mass built up from accretion events in those early stages. These events are still going on today, as attested by the long stellar streams associated to the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy and several other observed tidal substructure, whose geometry, extent, and kinematics are important constraints to reconstruct the MW gravitational potential and infer its total (visible + dark) mass. In addition, the remaining system of MW satellites is expected to be a fossil record of the much larger population of Galactic building blocks that once existed and got accreted. For all these reasons, it is crucial to unravel as much of this remaining population as possible, as well as the current stellar streams that orbit within the halo. The best bet to achieve this task is to carry out wide, deep, and multi-band photometric surveys that provide homogeneous stellar samples. In this contribution, we summarize the results of several years of work towards detecting and characterizing distant MW stellar systems, star clusters and dwarf spheroidals alike, with an emphasis on the analysis of data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). We argue that most of the volume in distance, size and luminosity space, both in the Galaxy and in the Clouds, is still unprobed. We then discuss the perspectives of exploring this outer MW volume using the current surveys, as well as other current and future surveys, such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST).


Author(s):  
Charlotte Quinn

As she learns about leading and facilitating, Charlotte Quinn reflects on the building blocks of effective leadership, including applying theory to practice and building a foundation of authenticity and compassion.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Morris ◽  
M Seguin ◽  
M McKee ◽  
E Nolte

Abstract Background There is well-established variation in cancer survival across high-income countries with seemingly-similar health systems. There is much research on reasons for these differences, but the role of leadership has been under-researched despite being one of the WHO 'building blocks' that underpin a functioning health system. Leadership is variously defined as including governance, stewardship, responsibility and accountability. As part of the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership, this study looked at these diverse aspects of leadership to identify drivers of change and improvement across a range of high-income countries. Methods Cancer strategy documents were analysed from 22 jurisdictions: Australia (3 states), Canada (10 provinces), Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and UK (4 countries). Key informants in 15 of these jurisdictions, representing a range of stakeholders, were recruited through a combination of purposive and 'snowball' strategies, and invited to participate in semi-structured interviews. Documents and interview transcripts were analysed using a thematic approach. Results Different facets of leadership emerged: diffused vs centralised (including the central role of a cancer agency in some places); national, regional and local leadership structures; links between primary and secondary care. This study, however, demonstrated a central role for sustained leadership and political commitment, crucial for initiating and maintaining progress, as was a coherent vision that supported the implementation of national policies locally. Clinical leadership emerged as vital for translating policy into action. Conclusions Improving cancer outcomes is challenging and complex but is unlikely to be achieved without effective leadership and sustained political commitment that can create effective co-ordination of care. Key messages Different facets of leadership of the cancer care system emerged as important when exploring the reasons for variations in cancer outcomes in high-income countries. The persistence of these variations is unacceptable. Change will require political commitment and effective leadership, especially by clinicians.


1990 ◽  
Vol 111 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
P A Coulombe ◽  
E Fuchs

Because of extraordinarily tight coiled-coil associations of type I and type II keratins, the composition and structure of keratin subunits has been difficult to determine. We report here the use of novel genetic and biochemical methods to explore the early stages of keratin filament assembly. Using bacterially expressed humans K5 and K14, we show that remarkably, these keratins behave as 1:1 complexes even in 9 M urea and in the presence of a reducing agent. Gel filtration chromatography and chemical cross-linking were used to identify heterodimers and heterotetramers as the most stable building blocks of keratin filament assembly. EM suggested that the dimer consists of a coiled-coil of K5 and K14 aligned in register and in parallel fashion, and the tetramer consists of two dimers in antiparallel fashion, without polarity. In 4 M urea, both end-to-end and lateral packing of tetramers occurred, leading to a variety of larger heteromeric complexes. The coexistence of multiple, higher-ordered associations under strongly denaturing conditions suggests that there may not be a serial sequence of events leading to the assembly of keratin intermediate filaments, but rather a number of associations may take place in parallel.


1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 23-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis J. Allamandola ◽  
Max P. Bernstein ◽  
Scott A. Sandford

AbstractInfrared observations, combined with realistic laboratory simulations, have revolutionized our understanding of interstellar ice and dust, the building blocks of comets. Since comets are thought to be a major source of the volatiles on the primative earth, their organic inventory is of central importance to questions concerning the origin of life. Ices in molecular clouds contain the very simple molecules H2O, CH3OH, CO, CO2, CH4, H2, and probably some NH3and H2CO, as well as more complex species including nitriles, ketones, and esters. The evidence for these, as well as carbonrich materials such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), microdiamonds, and amorphous carbon is briefly reviewed. This is followed by a detailed summary of interstellar/precometary ice photochemical evolution based on laboratory studies of realistic polar ice analogs. Ultraviolet photolysis of these ices produces H2, H2CO, CO2, CO, CH4, HCO, and the moderately complex organic molecules: CH3CH2OH (ethanol), HC(= O)NH2(formamide), CH3C(= O)NH2(acetamide), R-CN (nitriles), and hexamethylenetetramine (HMT, C6H12N4), as well as more complex species including polyoxymethylene and related species (POMs), amides, and ketones. The ready formation of these organic species from simple starting mixtures, the ice chemistry that ensues when these ices are mildly warmed, plus the observation that the more complex refractory photoproducts show lipid-like behavior and readily self organize into droplets upon exposure to liquid water suggest that comets may have played an important role in the origin of life.


Author(s):  
George G. Cocks ◽  
Louis Leibovitz ◽  
DoSuk D. Lee

Our understanding of the structure and the formation of inorganic minerals in the bivalve shells has been considerably advanced by the use of electron microscope. However, very little is known about the ultrastructure of valves in the larval stage of the oysters. The present study examines the developmental changes which occur between the time of conception to the early stages of Dissoconch in the Crassostrea virginica(Gmelin), focusing on the initial deposition of inorganic crystals by the oysters.The spawning was induced by elevating the temperature of the seawater where the adult oysters were conditioned. The eggs and sperm were collected separately, then immediately mixed for the fertilizations to occur. Fertilized animals were kept in the incubator where various stages of development were stopped and observed. The detailed analysis of the early stages of growth showed that CaCO3 crystals(aragonite), with orthorhombic crystal structure, are deposited as early as gastrula stage(Figuresla-b). The next stage in development, the prodissoconch, revealed that the crystal orientation is in the form of spherulites.


Author(s):  
D.E. Brownlee ◽  
A.L. Albee

Comets are primitive, kilometer-sized bodies that formed in the outer regions of the solar system. Composed of ice and dust, comets are generally believed to be relic building blocks of the outer solar system that have been preserved at cryogenic temperatures since the formation of the Sun and planets. The analysis of cometary material is particularly important because the properties of cometary material provide direct information on the processes and environments that formed and influenced solid matter both in the early solar system and in the interstellar environments that preceded it.The first direct analyses of proven comet dust were made during the Soviet and European spacecraft encounters with Comet Halley in 1986. These missions carried time-of-flight mass spectrometers that measured mass spectra of individual micron and smaller particles. The Halley measurements were semi-quantitative but they showed that comet dust is a complex fine-grained mixture of silicates and organic material. A full understanding of comet dust will require detailed morphological, mineralogical, elemental and isotopic analysis at the finest possible scale. Electron microscopy and related microbeam techniques will play key roles in the analysis. The present and future of electron microscopy of comet samples involves laboratory study of micrometeorites collected in the stratosphere, in-situ SEM analysis of particles collected at a comet and laboratory study of samples collected from a comet and returned to the Earth for detailed study.


Author(s):  
S. Mahajan

The evolution of dislocation channels in irradiated metals during deformation can be envisaged to occur in three stages: (i) formation of embryonic cluster free regions, (ii) growth of these regions into microscopically observable channels and (iii) termination of their growth due to the accumulation of dislocation damage. The first two stages are particularly intriguing, and we have attempted to follow the early stages of channel formation in polycrystalline molybdenum, irradiated to 5×1019 n. cm−2 (E > 1 Mev) at the reactor ambient temperature (∼ 60°C), using transmission electron microscopy. The irradiated samples were strained, at room temperature, up to the macroscopic yield point.Figure 1 illustrates the early stages of channel formation. The observations suggest that the cluster free regions, such as A, B and C, form in isolated packets, which could subsequently link-up to evolve a channel.


Author(s):  
Yeshayahu Talmon

To achieve complete microstructural characterization of self-aggregating systems, one needs direct images in addition to quantitative information from non-imaging, e.g., scattering or Theological measurements, techniques. Cryo-TEM enables us to image fluid microstructures at better than one nanometer resolution, with minimal specimen preparation artifacts. Direct images are used to determine the “building blocks” of the fluid microstructure; these are used to build reliable physical models with which quantitative information from techniques such as small-angle x-ray or neutron scattering can be analyzed.To prepare vitrified specimens of microstructured fluids, we have developed the Controlled Environment Vitrification System (CEVS), that enables us to prepare samples under controlled temperature and humidity conditions, thus minimizing microstructural rearrangement due to volatile evaporation or temperature changes. The CEVS may be used to trigger on-the-grid processes to induce formation of new phases, or to study intermediate, transient structures during change of phase (“time-resolved cryo-TEM”). Recently we have developed a new CEVS, where temperature and humidity are controlled by continuous flow of a mixture of humidified and dry air streams.


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