bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Identifying Key Customers for Novel Industrial Products
Authors: Cardozo Richard N. , Smith David K. , Viswanathan Madhubalan
Published: September 2003

Managers responsible for novel industrial products seek to identify their most productive customers promptly, as a basis for deployment of marketing and development resources. Using a trial‐and‐adoption model, based upon invoice data from sales of novel industrial products over a five‐year period, Richard Cardozo, David Smith and Madhubalan Viswanathan show that initial interpurchase interval (the time from initial purchase to first repeat purchase) identifies high‐volume customers, no matter when they first purchased. In addition to demonstrating the usefulness of a trial‐and‐adoption model in analyzing purchases of novel industrial products, this study also describes for the first time four distinct purchase patterns for novel industrial products.
Successful Innovation Using Strategies to Reduce Consumer Resistance An Empirical Test
Authors: Ram S.
Published: September 2003

This article focuses on a relatively neglected concept in new product management: innovation resistance. Specifically, it examines why consumers develop resistance to innovations at the attitude formation and intention‐to‐buy stages of their decision process, and what strategies marketing firms have within their direct control to reduce this resistance. S. Ram identifies two major sources of innovation resistance: perceived risk and cognitive resistance. These are studied in the context of four product groups and two distinct strategies to reduce innovation resistance. The results show that a strategy of innovation modification works to reduce resistance caused by perceived economic and functional risk. On the other hand, communication strategies can reduce resistance caused by perceived social or psychological risk. Sources of innovation resistance and appropriate strategies vary across different product groups.
Effects of New Product Pricing on the Evolution of Market Structure
Authors: Redmond William H.
Published: September 2003

Conventional wisdom suggests that market structure is a determinant of marketing strategy; however, in the case of market pioneers, no market structure exists prior to product introduction. William Redmond examines strategy influences on market structure by assessing the effects of pioneer firms' initial price strategies (penetration pricing versus skim pricing) on the development of subsequent market concentration during the growth stage of the product life cycle. The article describes the analysis of longitudinal data, leading to the detection of significant differences in the evolution of concentration resulting from the different price strategies. Markets pioneered by skim pricers tended to have lower levels of concentration during the growth stage but rose to levels comparable to penetration markets by the onset of market maturity.
Invention Evaluation Services: A Review of the State of the Art
Authors: Udell Gerald G.
Published: September 2003

This article presents a comprehensive review of the current state of invention evaluation services in the United States. Gerald Udell critically examines technical evaluation programs at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and discusses the Preliminary Innovation Evaluation System (PIES) developed during the Oregon Innovation Center Experiment. He reports that most evaluation services using the PIES format are operating below the state of the art reached by the Oregon experiment and that the quality of some evaluations is suspect. Some of these programs appear to have adopted portions of the PIES format without considering PIES' substance and the five years of research and experimentation that went into PIES' development. Inasmuch as invention evaluation activity is now part of public policy in the United States, invention evaluation activity is likely to increase. Replication and extension of either the technical evaluation procedures of the National Institute of Standards and Technology or the PIES format should be undertaken with careful attention to past experiences.
Redesigning Product Lines with Conjoint Analysis: A Reply to Wittink
Authors: Page Albert L. , Rosenbaum Harold F.
Published: September 2003

Albert Page and Harold Rosenbaum reply to Dick Wittink, noting some additional characteristics of the food processor market. They agree that least‐squares regression is another option for analysis and that problems may be introduced by comparing across attributes with differing numbers of levels; however, they argue that other criticisms may lead to additional cost and complexity without necessarily increasing the validity of the results.
Sources of Durable Competitive Advantage in New Products
Authors: Lawless Michael W. , Fisher Robert J.
Published: September 2003

In this article, Michael Lawless and Robert Fisher propose a conceptual framework for analyzing durable sources of competitive advantage for new products. They assess various components of new product introduction strategies in terms of their degrees of competitive “imitability” (i.e., the ease with which competitors can imitate). The less imitable the component, the more durable the profits it generates. The authors identify seven strategic components based on bodies of research in strategy and promotion, distribution and firm characteristics. By selectively managing these components, an innovating firm can affect a new product's imitability and the duration of returns. Using a “resource mobility” perspective, the authors develop propositions that should lead to a more systematic focus on long‐term profits in new product introductions.
Are Business Incubators Really Creating New Jobs by Creating New Businesses and New Products
Authors: Udell Gerald G.
Published: September 2003

This article examines the use of business incubators to enhance industrial innovation and new venture formation. Currently, the number of business incubators is rapidly growing. Yet, we have little solid evidence that such centers actually stimulate the growth and success of either innovations or new ventures. Gerald Udell examines incubators' resources and services in an effort to assess their potential impact. He conducted a survey of two hundred incubators and linked the results to a partial review of the literature to aid in the assessment of business incubators.
First Things First
Authors: Clipson Colin
Published: September 2003

Although successful new product development practices often require joint efforts of professionals from various departments, all too often these professionals are trained as specialists with little exposure to other functional viewpoints. Colin Clipson describes the results of an educational initiative designed to bring together selected technical, business and design students enrolled in classes at The University of Michigan. Members of various student teams quickly ascertained a need to overcome language and cultural barriers in order to develop product recommendations for sponsoring firms. The results of this educational experiment have implications for current educational programs as long as improved innovation management is seen as a desirable social goal.
New Product Idea Activities in Large Technology Based Firms
Authors: McGuinness Norman
Published: September 2003

In a previous article, Norman McGuinness developed a model of idea generation processes used by small firms. Here he reports similar patterns for larger firms but adds a stage he labels problem definition. Since his model describes the progress of ideas through various predevelopment stages, this article yields additional insight into better management practices. It emphasizes that search involves a system of social activities within the organization and also distinguishes between planned and unplanned search, structured versus unstructured procedures and top‐down versus bottom‐up orientation.
Glutamate‐mediated cytosolic calcium oscillations regulate a pulsatile prostaglandin release from cultured rat astrocytes
Authors: Zonta Micaela , Sebelin Annalisa , Gobbo Sara , Fellin Tommaso , Pozzan Tullio , Carmignoto Giorgio
Published: September 2003

The synaptic release of glutamate evokes in astrocytes periodic increases in [Ca2+]i, due to the activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs). The frequency of these [Ca2+]i oscillations is controlled by the level of neuronal activity, indicating that they represent a specific, frequency‐coded signalling system of neuron‐to‐astrocyte communication. We recently found that neuronal activity‐dependent [Ca2+]i oscillations in astrocytes are the main signal that regulates the coupling between neuronal activity and blood flow, the so‐called functional hyperaemia. Prostaglandins play a major role in this fundamental phenomenon in brain function, but little is known about a possible link between [Ca2+]i oscillations and prostaglandin release from astrocytes. To investigate whether [Ca2+]i oscillations regulate the release of vasoactive prostaglandins, such as the potent vasodilator prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), from astrocytes, we plated wild‐type human embryonic kidney (HEK)293 cells, which respond constitutively to PGE2 with [Ca2+]i elevations, onto cultured astrocytes, and used them as biosensors of prostaglandin release. After loading the astrocyte‐HEK cell co‐cultures with the calcium indicator Indo‐1, confocal microscopy revealed that mGluR‐mediated [Ca2+]i oscillations triggered spatially and temporally coordinated [Ca2+]i increases in the sensor cells. This response was absent in a clone of HEK cells that are unresponsive to PGE2, and recovered after transfection with the InsP3‐linked prostanoid receptor EP1. We conclude that [Ca2+]i oscillations in astrocytes regulate prostaglandin releases that retain the oscillatory behaviour of the [Ca2+]i changes. This finely tuned release of PGE2 from astrocytes provides a coherent mechanistic background for the role of these glial cells in functional hyperaemia.
Adenosine Mediates Decreased Cerebral Metabolic Rate and Increased Cerebral Blood Flow During Acute Moderate Hypoxia in the Near‐Term Fetal Sheep
Authors: Blood Arlin B. , Hunter Christian J. , Power Gordon G.
Published: September 2003

Exposure of the fetal sheep to moderate to severe hypoxic stress results in both increased cortical blood flow and decreased metabolic rate. Using intravenous infusion of 8‐cyclopentyl‐1,3‐dipropylxanthine (DPCPX), a selective adenosine A1 receptor antagonist that is permeable to the blood brain barrier, we examine the role of adenosine A1 receptors in mediating cortical blood flow and metabolic responses to moderate hypoxia. The effects of DPCPX blockade are compared to controls as well as animals receiving intravenous 8‐(p‐sulfophenyl)‐theophylline) (8‐SPT), a non‐selective adenosine receptor antagonist which has been found to be blood brain barrier impermeable. Laser Doppler flow probes, tissue PO2, and thermocouples were implanted in the cerebral cortices of near‐term fetal sheep. Catheters were placed in the brachial artery and sagittal sinus vein for collection of samples for blood gas analysis. Three to seven days later responses to a 30‐min period of fetal hypoxemia (arterial PO2 10–12 mmHg) were studied with administration of 8‐SPT, DPCPX, or vehicle. Cerebral metabolic rate was determined by calculation of both brain heat production and oxygen consumption. In response to hypoxia, control experiments demonstrated a 42 ± 7 % decrease in cortical heat production and a 35 ± 10 % reduction in oxygen consumption. In contrast, DPCPX infusion during hypoxia resulted in no significant change in brain heat production or oxygen consumption, suggesting the adenosine A1 receptor is involved in lowering metabolic rate during hypoxia. The decrease in cerebral metabolic rate was not altered by 8‐SPT infusion, suggesting that the response is not mediated by adenosine receptors located outside the blood brain barrier. In response to hypoxia, control experiments demonstrated a 35 ± 7 % increase in cortical blood flow. DPCPX infusion did not change this increase in cortical blood flow, however 8‐SPT infusion attenuated increases in flow, indicating that hypoxic increases in cerebral blood flow are mediated by adenosine but not via the A1 receptor. In summary, adenosine appears to play a key role in fetal hypoxic defences, acting to increase O2 delivery via adenosine A2 receptors and to decrease metabolic rate via A1 receptors inside the blood brain barrier. These data show for the first time in the mammalian fetus that the adenosine A1 receptor is an important mediator of brain metabolic rate during moderate hypoxia.
Decoding of synaptic voltage waveforms by specific classes of recombinant high‐threshold Ca2+ channels
Authors: Liu Zhi , Ren Jihong , Murphy Timothy H.
Published: September 2003

Studies suggest that the preferential role of L‐type voltage‐sensitive Ca2+ channels (VSCCs) in coupling strong synaptic stimulation to transcription is due to their selective activation of local chemical events. However, it is possible that selective activation of the L‐type channel by specific voltage waveforms also makes a contribution. To address this issue we have examined the response of specific Ca2+ channel types to simulated complex voltage waveforms resembling those encountered during synaptic plasticity (gamma and theta firing frequency). L‐, P/Q‐ and N‐type VSCCs (α1C, α1A, α1B/β1B/α2Δ, respectively) were all similarly activated by brief action potential (AP) waveforms or sustained step depolarization. When complex waveforms containing large excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs), APs and spike accommodation were applied under voltage clamp we found that the integrated L‐type VSCC current was approximately three times larger than that produced by the P/Q‐ or N‐type Ca2+ channels (gamma frequency 1 s stimulation). For P/Q‐ or N‐type channels the complex waveforms led to a smaller current than that expected from the response to a simple 1 s step depolarization to 0 or +20 mV. EPSPs present in the waveforms favoured the inactivation of P/Q‐ and N‐type channels. In contrast, activation of the L‐type channel was dependent on both EPSP‐ and AP‐mediated depolarization. Expression of P/Q‐type channels with reduced voltage‐dependent inactivation (α1A/β2A/α2Δ) or the use of hyperpolarized intervals between AP stimuli greatly increased their response to complex voltage stimuli. We propose that in response to complex synaptic voltage waveforms P/Q‐ and N‐type channels can undergo selective voltage‐dependent inactivation leading to a Ca2+ current mediated predominantly by L‐type channels.
MSK1 and MSK2 Mediate Mitogen- and Stress-Induced Phosphorylation of Histone H3: A Controversy Resolved
Authors: Davie James R.
Published: September 2003

It is well established that mitogen- and stress-activated signal transduction pathways result in the rapid phosphorylation (Ser
10
and Ser
28
) and acetylation of mammalian histone H3 associated with immediate-early genes. However, the prerequisite of H3 phosphorylation for the acetylation event and the identity of the mitogen-activated H3 kinase as RSK2 or MSK1 were controversial. A recent study with mouse embryonic fibroblasts lacking MSK1 and/or MSK2 demonstrated that MSK2 and MSK1 were the stimulus-induced H3 kinases and that neither of these enzyme activities was required for acetylation of H3 bound to immediate-early genes to occur.
OutFOXing the Grim Reaper: Novel Mechanisms Regulating Longevity by Forkhead Transcription Factors
Authors: Coffer Paul
Published: September 2003

Studies in the nematode
Caenhorhabditis elegans
have contributed to understanding the mechanisms that control life-span and aging. Recent experiments have employed RNAi to knock down gene expression, microarray analysis to identify genes involved in the insulin/insulin-like growth factor pathway, and bioinformatics screening to identify new Forkhead-regulated genes. The results from these experiments suggest that members of the Forkhead transcription factor family along with heat shock factors may coordinately regulate production of small heat shock proteins to control how cell stress influences life-span, and provide new links between metabolism and longevity, as well as indicate that antimicrobial genes may be involved in the aging process.
The Cytokine Receptor gp130: Faithfully Promiscuous
Authors: Müller-Newen Gerhard
Published: September 2003

Diverse cytokines can signal through receptor complexes containing the gp130 subunit. These cytokines, which include interleukin (IL)-6, IL-11, leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), oncostatin M (OSM), ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1), and CLC (cardiotrophin-like cytokine), are implicated in inflammatory and immune responses, heart development, and fertility. The gp130 receptor-ligand complexes are contrasted with the complex formed by erythropoietin (Epo) and its receptor, EpoR. Also discussed are insights provided by the structural analysis of IL-6, its α receptor (IL6Rα), and the signal transducer gp130 for understanding receptor-ligand assembly, for predicting the structures of ligand-receptor complexes of the other IL-6-type cytokines, and for rational drug design.
A Rifampin-Hypersensitive Mutant Reveals Differences between Strains of
Mycobacterium smegmatis
and Presence of a Novel Transposon, IS
1623
Authors: Alexander David C. , Jones Joses R. W. , Liu Jun
Published: September 2003

Rifampin is a front-line antibiotic for the treatment of tuberculosis. Infections caused by rifampin- and multidrug-resistant
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
strains are difficult to treat and contribute to a poor clinical outcome. Rifampin resistance most often results from mutations in
rpoB
. However, some drug-resistant strains have
rpoB
alleles that encode the phenotype for susceptibility. Similarly, non-
M. tuberculosis
mycobacteria exhibit higher levels of baseline resistance to rifampin, despite the presence of
rpoB
alleles that encode the phenotype for susceptibility. To identify other genes involved in rifampin resistance, we generated a library of
Mycobacterium smegmatis
mc
2
155 transposon insertion mutants. Upon screening this library, we identified one mutant that was hypersensitive to rifampin. The transposon insertion was localized to the
arr
gene, which encodes rifampin ADP ribosyltransferase, an enzyme able to inactivate rifampin. Sequence analysis revealed differences in the
arr
alleles of
M. smegmatis
strain mc
2
155 and previously described strain DSM 43756. The
arr
region of strain mc
2
155 contains a second, partial copy of the
arr
gene plus a novel insertion sequence, IS
1623
.
Pentamidine Is Active In Vitro againstFusariumSpecies
Authors: Lionakis Michail S. , Lewis Russell E. , Samonis George , Kontoyiannis Dimitrios P.
Published: September 2003

Fusariosis is an emerging opportunistic mycosis against which currently used antifungals have limited activity. Here, we investigated the in vitro activities of pentamidine (PNT) against 10 clinical isolates ofFusariumspecies (fiveFusarium solaniisolates and five non-F. solaniisolates) by using the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards microdilution method in three different media (RPMI, RPMI-2, and a yeast nitrogen base medium), disk diffusion testing, and viability dye staining. PNT had significant activities against all 10Fusariumisolates. Non-F. solaniisolates were more susceptible thanF. solaniisolates (P< 0.05). Additionally, PNT was fungicidal against all non-F. solaniisolates, whereas it had fungistatic effects against four of the fiveF. solaniisolates. PNT also exhibited greater activity against conidial than against hyphal development of the fungus. This fungicidal activity against non-F. solani Fusariumisolates was confirmed microscopically after staining of PNT-treatedFusarium oxysporumhyphae with the fluorescent viability dyes 5,(6)-carboxyfluorescein diacetate (CFDA) and bis-(1,3-dibutylbarbituric acid) trimethine oxonol (DiBAC). The MICs at which 50% of the isolates were inhibited (2 μg/ml for non-F. solaniisolates and 4 μg/ml forF. solaniisolates) and the minimum fungicidal concentration at which 50% of the isolates were killed (8 μg/ml for non-F. solaniisolates) were much lower than the PNT tissue concentrations previously reported in humans using conventional daily intravenous PNT dosing. Finally, PNT was more active againstFusariumisolates in a hypoxic environment of in vitro growth (P< 0.05). This finding may be clinically significant, becauseFusarium, an angiotropic mold, causes tissue infarcts with resultant low tissue perfusion. Our findings suggest that PNT may have a role in the management ofFusariuminfections. Future in vivo studies are needed to verify these in vitro findings.
Fungal Cell Wall Septation and Cytokinesis Are Inhibited by Bleomycins
Authors: Moore Carol W. , McKoy Judith , Del Valle Robert , Armstrong Donald , Bernard Edward M. , Katz Norman , Gordon Ronald E.
Published: September 2003

When the essential and distinctive cell walls of either pathogenic or nonpathogenic fungi break, cytoplasmic membranes rupture and fungi die. This fungicidal activity was discovered previously on nonproliferatingSaccharomyces cerevisiaecells treated briefly with the oxidative tool and anticancer drug family of bleomycins. The present studies investigated effects of bleomycin on growing fungal organisms. These included the medically importantAspergillus fumigatusandCryptococcus neoformans, as well as the emerging human pathogen and fungal model,S. cerevisiae.Bleomycin had its highest potency againstA. fumigatus. Scanning electron microscopy and thin-section transmission electron microscopy were used to study morphological growth characteristics. Killing and growth inhibition were also measured. Long, thin, and segmented hyphae were observed whenA. fumigatuswas grown without bleomycin but were never observed when the mold was grown with the drug. Bleomycin arrested conidial germination, hyphal development, and the progression and completion of cell wall septation. Similarly, the drug inhibited the construction of yeast cell wall septa, preventing cytokinesis and progression in the cell division cycle ofS. cerevisiae. Even when cytoplasms of mother and daughter cells separated, septation and cell division did not necessarily occur. Bizarre cell configurations, abnormally thickened cell walls at mother-daughter necks, abnormal polarized growth, large undivided cells, fragmented cells, and empty cell ghosts were also produced. This is the first report of a fungicidal agent that arrests fungal growth and development, septum formation, and cytokinesis and that also preferentially localizes to cell walls and alters isolated cell walls as well as intact cell walls on nongrowing cells.
Recombination Proficiency Influences Frequency and Locus of Mutational Resistance to Linezolid in
Enterococcus faecalis
Authors: Lobritz Michael , Hutton-Thomas Rebecca , Marshall Steve , Rice Louis B.
Published: September 2003

In vitro linezolid resistance was selected at a higher frequency in
Enterococcus faecalis
JH2-2 than in recombination-deficient
E. faecalis
UV202. Resistance in JH2-2 was related to accumulated G2576T mutations in 23S rRNA genes, with the least resistance conferred by mutations in two of four copies. UV202 resistance was associated with a G2505A mutation present in a single copy in mutants with different MICs.
Role of
Klebsiella pneumoniae
OmpK35 Porin in Antimicrobial Resistance
Authors: Doménech-Sánchez Antonio , Martínez-Martínez Luis , Hernández-Allés Santiago , del Carmen Conejo María , Pascual Álvaro , Tomás Juan M. , Albertí Sebastián , Benedí Vicente Javier
Published: September 2003

OmpK35 from
Klebsiella pneumoniae
is the homologue of
Escherichia coli
OmpF porin. Expression of OmpK35 in
K. pneumoniae
strain CSUB10R (lacking both OmpK35 and OmpK36) decreased the MICs of cephalosporins and meropenem ≥128-fold and decreased the MICs of imipenem, ciprofloxacin, and chloramphenicol ≥8-fold. MIC reductions by OmpK35 were 4 times (cefepime), 8 times (cefotetan, cefotaxime, and cefpirome), or 128 times (ceftazidime) higher than those caused by OmpK36, but the MICs were similar or 1 dilution lower for other evaluated agents.
Teicoplanin-Containing Cement Spacers for Treatment of Experimental
Staphylococcus aureus
Joint Prosthesis Infection
Authors: Ismael Farid , Bléton Rémy , Saleh-Mghir Azzam , Dautrey Sophie , Massias Laurent , Crémieux Anne-Claude
Published: September 2003

Using a rabbit model of methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
knee-prosthesis infection, we studied the efficacy of teicoplanin cement alone or in combination with systemic intramuscular (i.m.) injections of teicoplanin. Seven days after infection, surgical debridement and removal of the infected prostheses were performed, and five rabbits were randomly assigned to one of five different treatment groups: untreated controls, prosthesis replacement by drug-free cement spacer, prosthesis replacement by teicoplanin-loaded cement spacer (1.2 g of teicoplanin/40 g of cement), i.m. injections of teicoplanin (20 mg/kg of body weight, twice a day for 7 days), or systemic antibiotic treatment combined with teicoplanin-loaded spacers. The most effective regimen combined systemic teicoplanin and antibiotic spacers.
Prevalence of respiratory symptoms in sheep breeders
Authors: Radon K , Winter C
Published: September 2003

Background:The European Farmers’ Study has indicated that sheep farmers might be at risk for the development of respiratory symptoms.

Aims:To assess the prevalence of respiratory symptoms in sheep breeders and potential work related risk factors.

Methods:All sheep breeders listed in two regions of South Germany were asked to answer a mailed questionnaire on respiratory symptoms, work related respiratory symptoms (WRS), and details of farming. Overall, 325 sheep breeders keeping at least 10 sheep could be included in the survey (response rate 81.9%). The prevalences were compared to the results of the European Farmers’ Study.

Results:Sheep breeders showed a significantly higher prevalence of asthma related symptoms (prevalence odds ratio (POR) 2.1, 95% CI 1.5 to 3.0), chronic phlegm (POR 4.0, 95% CI 2.8 to 5.9), and WRS (POR 1.7, 95% CI 1.3 to 2.2) after adjusting for age, gender, smoking habits, full time farming, and study centre. In the multiple logistic regression model the risk for asthma related symptoms was doubled in full time farmers (POR 2.3, 95% CI 1.2 to 4.3). The major predictor of WRS was full time farming (POR 1.6, 95% CI 0.93 to 2.7) and the use of chemical footbaths (POR 2.1, 95% CI 1.2 to 3.7).

Conclusions:Sheep breeders might be at high risk for the development of respiratory symptoms. These symptoms may be associated with work intensity and chemical exposure during work. Studies including objective measurements should be performed.
Ephrin-B2 Induces Migration of Endothelial Cells Through the Phosphatidylinositol-3 Kinase Pathway and Promotes Angiogenesis in Adult Vasculature
Authors: Maekawa Hiromitsu , Oike Yuichi , Kanda Shigeru , Ito Yasuhiro , Yamada Yoshihiro , Kurihara Hiroki , Nagai Ryozo , Suda Toshio
Published: September 2003

Objective—

Ephrin-B2 plays a key role in vascular development. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of ephrin-B2 signaling through the EphB receptor in endothelial cells and to determine whether ephrin-B2 contributes to in vivo angiogenesis in adult mice.

Methods and Results—

A chemotaxis assay on a polycarbonate membrane revealed that ephrin-B2/Fc chimeric protein induced migration of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) at a level 98% greater than control (
P
<0.01). To determine the signaling pathways activated in the HUVECs by Eph stimulation, phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3 kinase) activity was determined in an immune complex PI3 kinase assay. Serum-starved HUVECs were stimulated with ephrin-B2/Fc and compared with unstimulated cells. PI3 kinase activity in stimulated cells was higher than that seen in unstimulated cells. In a chemotaxis assay, the PI3 kinase-specific inhibitor LY294002 blocked the migratory response of HUVECs induced by addition of ephrin-B2/Fc. Finally, ephrin-B2/Fc promoted angiogenesis in vivo in corneal neovascularization and Matrigel plug assays in adult mice, whereas LY294002 reduced angiogenesis in Matrigel that was induced by ephrin-B2/Fc.

Conclusions—

Ephrin-B2/Fc induces the migration of HUVECs through the PI3 kinase signaling pathway. Ephrin-B2/Fc promotes in vivo angiogenesis in adult mice, suggesting that it contributes to adult angiogenesis.
C-Reactive Protein Decreases Prostacyclin Release From Human Aortic Endothelial Cells
Authors: Venugopal Senthil Kumar , Devaraj Sridevi , Jialal Ishwarlal
Published: September 2003

Background—

In addition to being a risk marker for cardiovascular disease, much recent data suggest that C-reactive protein (CRP) promotes atherogenesis. Decreased endothelial NO and prostacyclin (PGI
2
) contribute to a proatherogenic and prothrombotic state. We have shown that CRP decreases endothelial NO synthase expression and bioactivity in human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs). PGI
2
is a potent vasodilator and inhibitor of platelet aggregation. Hence, the aim of this study was to examine the effect of CRP on PGI
2
release from HAECs and human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAECs).

Methods and Results—

HAECs and HCAECs were incubated with human CRP (0 to 50 μg/mL for 24 hours). The release of PGF-1α, a stable product of PGI
2
, was also assayed in the absence and presence of a potent agonist, A23187. CRP significantly decreased PGF-1α release from HAECs under basal (48% decrease,
P
<0.001; n=5) and stimulated (26% decrease,
P
<0.01; n=5) conditions. CRP had no effect on PGI
2
synthase (PGIS) mass. By increasing both superoxide and inducible NO synthase, CRP resulted in increased nitration of PGIS by peroxynitrite. The increased nitration and decreased activity of PGIS by CRP was reversed with peroxynitrite scavengers.

Conclusions—

Thus, CRP decreases PGI
2
release from HAECs by inactivating PGIS via nitration, additionally contributing to its atherogenicity.
Physical Activity and Stroke Risk
Authors: Lee Chong Do , Folsom Aaron R. , Blair Steven N.
Published: September 2003

Background and Purpose—

Whether physical activity reduces stroke risk remains controversial. We used a meta-analysis to examine the overall association between physical activity or cardiorespiratory fitness and stroke incidence or mortality.

Methods—

We searched MEDLINE from 1966 to 2002 and identified 23 studies (18 cohort and 5 case-control) that met inclusion criteria. We estimated the overall relative risk (RR) of stroke incidence or mortality for highly and moderately active individuals versus individuals with low levels of activity using the general variance–based method.

Results—

The meta-analysis documented that there was a reduction in stroke risk for active or fit individuals compared with inactive or unfit persons in cohort, case-control, and both study types combined. For cohort studies, highly active individuals had a 25% lower risk of stroke incidence or mortality (RR=0.75; 95% CI, 0.69 to 0.82) compared with low-active individuals. For case-control studies, highly active individuals had a 64% lower risk of stroke incidence (RR=0.36; 95% CI, 0.25 to 0.52) than their low-active counterparts. When we combined both the cohort and case-control studies, highly active individuals had a 27% lower risk of stroke incidence or mortality (RR=0.73; 95% CI, 0.67 to 0.79) than did low-active individuals. We observed similar results in moderately active individuals compared with inactive persons (RRs were 0.83 for cohort, 0.52 for case-control, and 0.80 for both combined). Furthermore, moderately and highly active individuals had lower risk of both ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes than low-active individuals.

Conclusions—

We conclude that moderate and high levels of physical activity are associated with reduced risk of total, ischemic, and hemorrhagic strokes.
The CFSP Factor
Authors: Brenner Michael
Published: September 2003

The European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy is widely seen as a casualty of the fractious dispute over Iraq. Deep cleavages among Union governments together with the Bush administration's newfound strategy to divide and neutralize the EU as a potential rival power bloc raise the bar for achieving a significant measure of concert. Yet, announcement of CFSP's demise is premature. There are significant issues where a consensus exists on Europe's stake and the course to follow, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict most prominent among them. Judging whether that will translate into sustained collective action requires a searching review of the reasons for the current impasse and the longer-term implications of the recent crisis. This analysis concentrates on the United States and France: the former as the dominant player in the drama and the latter as its principal antagonist for whom the EU presents opportunity as a potential force magnifier while carrying the constraints of institutionalized multilateralism.
Ask and you shall Receive? Gender Differences in Negotiators' Beliefs about Requests for a Higher Salary
Authors: Barron Lisa A.
Published: September 2003

Men and women have been shown to negotiate different salary amounts, but little research has investigated whether their behavior differs and how their beliefs might affect behavior. Using quantitative data from simulated negotiations and qualitative data from post-negotiation interviews, this study examines differences in the amounts of men's and women's salary requests and their beliefs about these requests. Qualitative data show differences in the nature of men's and women's beliefs about requesting a higher salary. Quantitative findings show that men made significantly larger salary requests than women and that beliefs were related to these requests. Theoretical implications are discussed.
Eliciting and Analysing Employees' Expectations of a Merger
Authors: Dackert Ingrid , Jackson Paul R. , Brenner Sten-Olof , Johansson Curt R.
Published: September 2003

The merger of the head offices of two public service organizations in Sweden was used to examine differences in the meanings that employees attach to the organizations involved and their expectations of the new merged organization, nine months prior to the merger. A two-stage methodology was used, combining the repertory grid method with a survey questionnaire based on the elicited constructs. Predictions from a social constructivist perspective on culture and social identity theory were largely confirmed. The results showed that both groups expected one of them to be dominant after the merger. Members of this organization expected to change very little, while employees in the non-dominant group felt themselves to be threatened by the prospect of merger and this led them to emphasize their own distinctiveness. The findings suggest that the success of the integration process after a merger is critically dependent on how employees of merger partners perceive the culture of the organizations involved and the expectations they have of the new organization. The study has practical implications for how to manage the merger integration process.
Organizational Learning: A Socio-Cognitive Framework
Authors: Akgün Ali E. , Lynn Gary S. , Byrne John C.
Published: September 2003

Organizational learning is a popular topic in business and academia and attracts many researchers and practitioners from different fields. Even though organizational learning scholarship is still growing, there are few studies that cross-fertilize social cognition and organizational learning. This investigation examines organizational learning from the perspective of social cognition. It is argued that social cognition explains the organizational learning process better by integrating fragmented studies on the processes of learning, and the study proposes that organizational learning is an outcome of reciprocal interactions of the processes of information/knowledge acquisition, information/knowledge dissemination, information/knowledge implementation, sensemaking, memory, thinking, unlearning, intelligence, improvisation, and emotions - connected by organizational culture. In addition, the implications of social cognition on organizational learning are discussed.
Transformations of Religion and Morality in Modern Europe
Authors: Luckmann Thomas
Published: September 2003

Based on the assumption that religion is not a passing phase in the evolution of mankind but a universal aspect of the conditio humana, the anthropological and phenomenological features of religion and morality are outlined here. Then, three different social forms of religion and morality are delineated: archaic societies, early high culture, functionally differentiated societies. It is argued that the privatized form of religion constitutes a fourth social form existing in Europe. It is characterized by functional specialization and the modern variety of pluralism. Whereas the privatized form of religion is characterized by the absence of a generally obligatory model, the situation in Europe is characterized by the superimposition and co-existence of the various forms with tendencies towards fundamentalism and wholeness.
Poststructuralism, Behaviorism and the Problem of Hate Speech
Authors: Hull Carrie L.
Published: September 2003

In this paper, I propose that influential arguments of Jacques Derridas's and Judith Butler's rely on behaviorism and relativism, a reliance which has implications for, among other things, the issue of hate speech. I begin with a brief discussion of the philosophy of W. V. O. Quine, a thinker seldom discussed in relationship to continental poststructuralism. Quine is interesting because he explicitly defends an ontological relativism combined with linguistic behaviorism, the latter as influenced by B. F. Skinner and John Watson. I then show that Butler's and Derrida's theories demonstrate a similar yet unacknowledged lineage. I devote the final section of the paper to a discussion of hate speech, and the problematization of behaviorism and relativism it entails.
Neoconservative Realities
Authors: Caragata Lea
Published: September 2003

This article analyses the gendered and differential benefits and costs associated with globalization. It explores current globalization-induced labour force changes in terms of their intersection with race, class and gender, suggesting globalization as a force in concert with other phenomena which marginalizes groups of already disadvantaged Canadian women. The implications of these changes are analysed from two perspectives - their impacts on the women and families facing exclusion from mainstream life and their broader sociopolitical effects. The article posits that these changes in concert with a retrenching welfare state and an increasing commodification of social roles may act to transform the nature of Canadian society, which has maintained a delicate balance between the inclusive social welfare schemes of Western Europe and those much less generous provisions in the US, a society which, until recently, widely conferred social citizenship and enabled access to a valued and acknowledged public sphere.
Interpreting Islam and Women's Rights
Authors: Weiss Anita M.
Published: September 2003

The engendering of Muslim civil society is raising profound questions regarding women's social roles and rights, resulting in conflicting images particularly concerning what constitutes women's rights, who is to define what these rights are, where responsibility lies for ensuring these rights, and the role states are playing in articulating and clarifying what is acceptable and unacceptable within a Muslim context. This article investigates Pakistan's response to having become a State Party to the United Nations' Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). It focuses on the debate now underway to define what constitutes discrimination against women, how the state might act to eliminate discrimination against women not only in the legal sense but also in the social sense, the roles being played by various groups within the women's movement to facilitate the process of adherence to CEDAW, as well as other challenges being faced as the Pakistan state attempts to eliminate discrimination against women. This underscores the challenge of transforming prevailing Islamic interpretations of women's legal rights into ones acceptable to local mores and values while adhering to the requirements of CEDAW.
Bataille's Wars
Authors: Hutnyk John
Published: September 2003

Georges Bataille's experience of the First World War and his syphilitic father are considered as context for his engagements with Surrealism, Communism and Fascism. His anti-war sentiment, somewhat ambivalent, is mediated through his notions of expenditure and sacrifice and his post-Second World War studies of the gift. These offer material that might be worth considering in the light of contemporary political questions. On the eve of a new global war emergent from the unexamined limits of liberal charity and `Third Way' governance, an experimental and extravagant, even excessive, application of Bataille might provoke rethinking.
The Man from Snowy River
Authors: Griffiths Tom
Published: September 2003

George Seddon takes a cheeky pride in his native wit, in his ability to improvise, invent, and to trip lightly over difficult terrain. These are the bush virtues of the Man from Snowy River. In this essay I reflect upon the interdisciplinary (and undisciplined) nature of Seddon's vision and practice, and place him in a tradition of nature and landscape writing in Australia that goes back to the 19th century. But I also suggest that he has been ahead of his time in many ways, particularly in his anticipation of the field of environmental history. He has been one of the people who has generated new environmental narratives that indigenize Australia, and which undermine the dominant imperialist, diffusionist, one-way accounts of origins. In this sense, Seddon has creatively embraced - and sometimes overturned - the predicament of the antipodean. Seddon happily combines poetry and practice. He became known as the `powerline man' in landscape planning, and enjoyed quoting William Blake to the State Electricity Commission of Victoria in his report on the Loy Yang coal field development. By analysing his 1998 submission to the Snowy Water Inquiry, the essay shows how Seddon unites `good science, good planning, good design, and good communication', and offers environmental wisdom that is both highly intellectual and extremely practical.
Castoriadis' Shift Towards Physis
Authors: Adams Suzi
Published: September 2003

The ontological turn in Castoriadis' thought is exemplified in The Imaginary Institution of Society ( IIS). Castoriadis did not stop there, however, but was drawn to enquire into more general ontological questions. In turn, this line of questioning made its presence felt significantly in Castoriadis' intellectual trajectory, such that, as I argue in this article, we can speak of a shift from a regional ontology of the social-historical (as developed in the IIS) to a later transregional ontology of physis as creative emergence. Castoriadis' ontology of physis occurs at the convergence of three intertwined threads in his thought: the rethinking of the idea - and regions - of nature, his growing onto-epistemic critique of `objective' knowledge and his theorization of the creativity of being via time. This leads him to develop an (unfinished) philosophical cosmology that, although placing more emphasis on continuity between anthropic and non-anthropic modes of being, can still highlight the autonomy and uniqueness of the social-historical.
Now You See it Now You Don't
Authors: Owen John
Published: September 2003

Broadcast journalism has quite rightly kept its head down while newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic have had a field day trashing the New York Times over the Jayson Blair scandal that resulted in the resignations of its two top editors. But television news has had its own share of scandals involving faked documentaries and dubious reporting that managed to get to air without rigorous fact-checking and sober second judgments. Every day in some television station or network, a reporter, correspondent, or producer is committing a similar act of journalistic deception. No one seems to care that this is a fact of life in television journalism.
Network Time and the New Knowledge Epoch
Authors: Hassan Robert
Published: September 2003

This article analyses the temporal dimensions of knowledge production. Specifically it discusses the mechanics of the process and how these have changed through what are termed ‘knowledge epochs’. It argues that with the widespread dissemination of clock-time through the Industrial Revolution, the production of knowledge was significantly shaped by the temporality of the clock. Through the convergence of neoliberal globalization and ICT revolution a new powerful temporality has emerged through which knowledge production is refracted: network time. The article concludes that the spread of network time into the realm of the everyday has profound implications for the production of critical and reflexive knowledge in contemporary culture and society.
To Seduce or to Flirt, that is the Question
Authors: Miller Don
Published: September 2003

Can we conceive a new knowledge, politics and ethics more suited to transient time - to know and use the moment and the occasion no matter how fleeting? But something beyond a vulgar opportunism. We will need more subtle distinctions - of time and of behaviour - than we are accustomed to. But can we, the West, break away from our entrenched attraction to enduring principles? From long-term quests? From immemorial causes like the valiant struggle against evil and the endless, triumphant crusades of goodness? We love to be seduced by eternal time. But we pay a price which we commonly fail to notice. If only for the moment, let us suspend conventional judgments and contemplate an alternative. Let’s flirt. Let’s risk uncertainty. And our technique, just for the occasion? A series of swift raiding parties not a sustained campaign of reasoned argument.
An Analysis of Turkey's Prospective Membership in the European Union from a `Security' Perspective
Authors: OgĞzlu H. Tarik
Published: September 2003

This article argues that it is possible to explain the European Union's reluctant attitude towards Turkey's membership in the EU on the basis of the EU's international and security identity and Turkey's security culture and perception of Europe. The EU's final decision on Turkey's accession is dependent both on Turkey's performance in adopting the EU's distinctive security identity and on the continuation of the EU member-states' commitment to turning the EU into an international actor with vital security interests in Turkey's vicinity. On the basis of this reasoning, the article reaches two main conclusions. The first is that the prospects for Turkey's EU membership are better in the post-11 September era than they were in the 1990s. The second is that there is a close relationship between the way the EU accession process unfolds and the way Turkey and the EU see each other. The longer the accession process lasts and the more ambiguously the EU reacts towards Turkey's membership, the more likely Turkey and the EU will view each other as `security threats' rather than `security providers'.