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In this extract from his paper, Professor Hervey discusses some of the mechanisms which may be responsible for maintaining energy balance and normal body weight.

It has been known since at least 1905 that pregnant female mammals gain bodyweight, additionally to the fetus and structures involved in reproduction, mostly early in pregnancy. Much of the substance gained in rats and possibly nearly all of it in humans is fat; it represents substantial storage of energy—typically 30,000 kcal (125.5 MJ) in the human. In a ‘state of nature’ such storage in advance of a time of increased demand for energy must be valuable; a similar mechanism is seen in birds before migration. Dewar showed that in mice the hormone progesterone, the signal for many of the changes in the mother in pregnancy, is also responsible for the weight gain. This action of progesterone has been extensively investigated in the rat (paper gives further references). Rats and mice are very suitable for such work, for they are available in uniform strains, are easy to handle, and their bodies can be analysed accurately. Cynics, however, have observed that a high proportion of endocrinology refers to the rat; it must not be assumed that the findings are necessarily true for other species.

It is characteristic of living organisms that they maintain a specific structure, composition and physical state, although they are continuously losing and gaining the substances of which they are made by exchanges with the outside world. This process is known as homoeostasis, and much of physiology is concerned with it. So well does it work that in the ordinary affairs of life we seldom have to give it much thought. This could at one time have been said of an example of homoeostasis, the maintenance of normal body weight. Recently, however, our community has become more concerned about this.

One of the earliest reports of the relationship between obesity and reproduction was a study of the circumstances under which 40 women became overweight as a result of pregnancy. No consistent pattern emerged from this study. Excessive gain in weight was recognised in some women during pregnancy, in others only some time after delivery. Furthermore, the response to successive pregnancies was varied, but all the patients had continued to gain weight over the years, and for this reason had sought medical advice. In this selected sample, abnormalities of pregnancy were common, with a high incidence of stillbirths and neonatal mortality.

This paper aims to investigate the contribution of perceived organizational support (POS), work engagement (WE) and intrinsic motivation (IM) on employee creativity (EC).

This study conducted a questionnaire survey obtaining 370 respondents employed in the United Arab Emirates in 6 organizations operating in services industries. The authors test their hypothetical model based on regression analysis.

The main findings are that WE mediates the relationship between POS and EC. Further, the effect of POS on EC is moderated by IM. The results also indicated that the indirect effect of POS on EC through WE was moderated by IM. The path effect is stronger for employees with high IM.

This study sheds light on the effect of POS on EC through WE and IM in the workplace, making a significant contribution to the POS and EC literatures by offering insights on when and how IM and WE enhances EC.

The aim of this paper was to explore commonalities between HIV/AIDS-related conditions, obesity and other disabling impairments as health-related barriers that limit opportunity and advancement in society and the workplace. Taking a number of examples from original fieldwork and European Union (EU) and United Kingdom (UK) law, we posited that ‘disability discrimination’ under EU law remains an indefinite, imprecise and incomplete area that requires greater alignment with the social model of disability. The principle attributes of societal discrimination towards people living with HIV and obese people are that these conditions are perceived to be primarily or in some instances, solely caused by controllable factors related often to behaviours and lifestyle choices. Strong beliefs that these conditions are controllable are perceived as a justification and in some instances encouragement for the creation of stigma and discriminative behaviours that are unjust and uninformed. The structure of the paper is as follows. First, this paper postulated how and why stigma exists towards both individuals with disabilities and also obese individuals and people living with HIV; second, reviewed the legal framework on disability discrimination in both UK and EU courts that are directly relevant to the concepts of obesity and HIV-AIDS; third, presented critical thoughts as to the extent to which emerging decisions of the Court of Justice of the EU concerning obesity and HIV-AIDS accord with the social model of disability and fourth, offered an analysis of the implications of the UK and European framework and suggested possible interventions in this area.

Based on literature providing evidence that Afrocentric hairstyles (e.g. afros, braids, dreadlocks) of Black women working in professional settings are often associated with negative stereotypes and biases regarding competency and professionalism, this chapter examines the extent to which these biases may be influencing the hairstyle choices of Black women employed in higher education. While academic workplaces tend to be more flexible and informal than non-academic settings, we found many Black women in higher education are, nonetheless, choosing to wear Eurocentric hairstyles. However, choice of hairstyle was influenced by academic discipline, type of institution and level in the university hierarchy.

The chapter analyses the re-emergence of gene editing as an object of policy attention at the European Union (EU) level. Editing the genome of plants and/or animals has been a rather controversial component of all EU policies on agricultural biotechnology since the late 1980s. The chapter examines in detail the various initiatives that have been assumed for the regulation of gene editing at the EU level. Since the first political and legislative attempts, the field has been revolutionized with the development of the CRISPR-Cas9 system, which is comparatively much easier to design, produce, and use. Beyond the pure, safety-driven scientific questions, gene editing, in its contemporary form, raises a series of ethical and regulatory questions that are discussed in the context of the legal options and competences of the EU legislators. Special attention is paid to questions about the legal status of gene editing in Europe and the adequacy of the current GMO framework to deal with all the challenges associated with the latest scientific developments in the field of gene editing with a special focus on gene drive. Given the ongoing discussions regarding the ethical tenets of gene editing, the chapter investigates the question on whether there is a need to shape an EU-wide “intervention” that will address the complex and dynamic socio-ethical challenges of gene editing and puts forward a series of proposals for the framing of an inclusive framework that will be based on the need to re-enforce public trust in the EU governance of emerging technologies.

WAR is not over as we write on the threshold of May, but at any time it may be—so far as Europe is concerned; there can, however, be no settled peace, even in Europe for many months; and any rejoicings which occur before the defeat of Japan would be ironical. It is true the air is fuller than ever of plans and projects not a little mixed with doubts and questions. This is so for librarians as for others. The Library Association syllabus is a main object of discussion and the Editor of the L.A. Record did well to devote several pages of last month's issue to making and answering the sort of questions that are current. There is still the doubt in our mind as to the possibility of getting a library teaching service in working which can affect the first examinations of 1946. The London University School shows as yet no sign of movement and it was there, we assumed, that the would‐be directors of library schools in technical colleges were to be “refreshed.” The technical schools or the Library Association have not advertised for tutors. Meanwhile, and possibly prematurely, the L.A. has written to library authorities asking them to adopt and facilitate the training scheme for the service‐men and women by giving them leave to attend whole‐time schools and, where necessary, to aid them financially. We do not know the results but it is clear that such a suggestion can be considered by a local council only in connexion with schemes as a whole of our and other professional bodies. For the time being it would be well for the present teaching activities to be continued. The new syllabus adds to the demands on students; it does not otherwise alter them.