bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Expression of KITENIN in human colorectal cancer and its relation to tumor behavior and progression
Authors: Lee Seok , Song Young‐A , Park Young‐Lan , Cho Sung‐Bum , Lee Wan‐Sik , Lee Jae‐Hyuk , Chung Ik‐Joo , Kim Kyung‐Keun , Rew Jong‐Sun , Joo Young‐Eun
Published: March 2011

KAI1 COOH‐terminal interacting tetraspanin (KITENIN) contributes to tumor invasion and metastasis in various cancers. The aim of current study was to evaluate whether KITENIN affects tumor cell invasion and prognosis in human colorectal cancers. We investigated the biologic role of KITENIN on tumor cell invasion by using small interfering RNA in Caco2, DLD1, and SW480. We evaluated the expression of KITENIN and activator protein‐1 (AP‐1) target genes in human colorectal cancer tissues. The tumor cell invasion was decreased by knockdown of KITENIN in three tested cell lines. The mRNA expression of cyclin D1 and COX‐2 was decreased in KITENIN knockdown Caco2 and the mRNA expression of MMP‐3 and COX‐2 was decreased in KITENIN knockdown DLD1 and SW480. The extracellular‐signal protein kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) phosphorylation was decreased in KITENIN knockdown in three tested cell lines. Expression of KITENIN and AP‐1 target genes was significantly increased in human colorectal cancer tissues. The ERK1/2, c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 phosphorylations were increased in human colorectal cancer tissues. Expression of KITENIN was significantly associated with lymphovascular invasion, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, tumor stage and poor survival. These results indicate that KITENIN is associated with human colorectal cancer progression including invasion and metastasis.
Association of 5‐hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) receptor 4 (5‐HTR4) gene polymorphisms with asthma
Authors: KIM TAE‐HOON , AN SUNG‐HYE , CHA JI‐YEON , SHIN EUN‐KYONG , LEE JI‐YEON , YOON SANG‐HYUK , LEE YOUNG‐MOK , UH SOO‐TAEK , PARK SUNG‐WOO , PARK JONG‐SOOK , KIM YOUNG‐HOON , CHOI JAE‐SUNG , LEE SOO‐OK , PARK BYUNG‐LAE , SHIN HYUNG‐DOO , PARK CHOON‐SIK
Published: March 2011

Background and objective:  The neurotransmitter, 5‐hydroxytryptamine, acts as an immunomodulator by stimulating the release of inflammatory cytokines and regulating the function of dendritic cells and monocytes. The 5‐hydroxytryptamine receptor 4 (HTR4) gene is located in a region previously linked to an increased risk of asthma and atopy. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between HTR4 and asthma.

Methods:  Thirty‐two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in HTR4 were investigated by direct sequencing of 24 DNA samples from unrelated Korean subjects.

Results:  The 32 genetic variants comprised 22 intronic SNP, two SNP in the 3′‐untranslated region (exon 7) and eight SNP in the 3′‐downstream region. Logistic regression analysis showed that two intronic polymorphisms were significantly associated with the risk of asthma. Two minor HTR4 alleles, +142828G > A and +122769G > A, occurred at significantly higher frequencies in the asthmatic group than in the healthy control group (49.59% vs 42.29%, P = 0.003, and 47.99% vs 40.35%, P = 0.008, respectively), and these differences remained significant after correction for multiple testing (P = 0.05, dominant mode of inheritance; and P = 0.03, dominant mode, respectively). Haplotype analysis revealed three haplotype blocks. The frequency of haplotype 1 in block 2 was significantly higher in asthmatics (P = 0.003, dominant mode), whereas the frequency of haplotype 4 in block 3 was significantly lower in asthmatics (P = 0.0009, dominant mode).

Conclusions:  SNP and haplotypes of the HTR4 gene were associated with the asthma phenotype and genetic variation of HTR4 may affect susceptibility to the development of asthma.
Prognostic value of dual‐time‐point 18F‐fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis
Authors: UMEDA YUKIHIRO , DEMURA YOSHIKI , MORIKAWA MIWA , AMESHIMA SHINGO , TSUCHIDA TATSURO , FUJIBAYASHI YASUHISA , OKAZAWA HIDEHIKO , ISHIZAKI TAKESHI
Published: March 2011

Background and objective:  The value of dual‐time‐ point 18F‐FDG PET was investigated to predict the prognosis of patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis.

Methods:  Twenty‐one patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis underwent 18F‐FDG PET examinations at two time points: an early scan at 60 min and a delayed scan at 180 min after injection of 18F‐FDG. Standardized uptake values (SUVs) at the two time points and the retention index (RI‐SUV) calculated from these were evaluated. To evaluate disease progression, all patients underwent chest CT 1 year after 18F‐FDG PET. Using these results, the accuracy of 18F‐FDG PET parameters and 67Ga uptake for predicting disease persistence were compared, and the correlations between those parameters and serum markers were assessed.

Results:  RI‐SUV was significantly higher in patients with increased or unchanged pulmonary lesions at follow‐up CT (persistent group; 21.3 ± 9.6%) than in patients with improved pulmonary lesions (improved group; −9.2 ± 28.6%, P = 0.0075). The diagnostic accuracy of RI‐SUV in the persistent group was significantly greater than that of early SUV or 67Ga uptake, and serum soluble IL‐2 receptor showed a significant correlation with RI‐SUV.

Conclusions:  RI‐SUV showed better diagnostic accuracy compared with early SUV or 67Ga uptake, in patients with persistent lung involvement at 1 year. It may be a useful measure of persistent inflammation in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis.
Comparison of high‐dose salmeterol/fluticasone and moderate‐dose salmeterol/fluticasone plus low‐dose mometasone in patients with severe persistent asthma
Authors: KURASHIMA KAZUYOSHI , KAGIYAMA NAHO , TAKAYANAGI NOBORU , SUGITA YUTAKA
Published: March 2011

Background and objective:  The effects of adding a second inhaled corticosteroid with a different particle size, compared with using an increased dose of a single inhaled corticosteroid, were assessed in patients with persistent asthma.

Methods:  This was an open‐label study of Japanese asthma patients over 20 years of age. After a 1‐month run‐in period, 36 patients with inadequate control while using salmeterol/fluticasone propionate 50/250 µg (SFC50/250) bd, were randomized to receive SFC50/500 bd or SFC50/250 plus mometasone 100 µg bd (SFC50/250/MF100) for 2 months.

Results:  Both treatments resulted in improvements in morning and evening PEF. There were no significant changes in FEV1, maximum mid‐expiratory flow, maximum expiratory flow rate at 50%, maximum expiratory flow rate at 25% or exhaled NO (FENO) in the SFC50/500 group. On the other hand, there were significant improvements in FEV1% (+12.2%, P = 0.0142), %maximum mid‐expiratory flow (+28.9%, P = 0.0181), %MEF50 (+32.4%, P = 0.0206) and %MEF25 (+30.3%, P = 0.0113) in the SFC50/250/MF100 group. The changes in FENO (−23.2% (P = 0.0157) in the SFC50/250/MF100 group and −14.5% (not significant) in the SFC50/500 group) did not differ significantly between the groups.

Conclusions:  In patients with severe persistent asthma, addition of low‐dose mometasone to SFC50/250 improved spirometric parameters, FENO and PEF, while an increase in dose from SFC50/250 to SFC50/ 500 only improved PEF.
Genetic structure among populations in the endemic Hawaiian Plantago lineage: insights from microsatellite variation
Authors: DUNBAR‐CO STEPHANIE , WIECZOREK ANIA M.
Published: March 2011

Endemic Hawaiian species in the genus Plantago show considerable morphological and ecological diversity. Despite their variation, a recent phylogenetic analysis based on DNA sequence data showed that the group is monophyletic and that sequence variation among species and morphotypes is low. This lack of sequence polymorphisms resulted in an inability to resolve species and population affinities within the most recently derived clade of this lineage. To assess species boundaries, population genetic structure and interpopulation connectivity among the morphologically and ecologically distinct populations within this clade, genetic variation was examined using eight microsatellite loci. Within‐population genetic diversity was found to be lowest in the Maunaiu, Hawai'i population of the endangered P. hawaiensis, and highest in the large P. pachyphylla population from 'Eke, West Maui. Isolation by distance across the range of populations was detected and indicated restricted dispersal. This result is likely to be attributable to few interisland dispersal events in the evolutionary history of this lineage. Genetic differentiation within islands tended to be higher among populations occurring in contrasting bog and woodland habitats, suggesting ecological barriers to gene flow and the potential role of ecological divergence in population diversification. Overall, these results are consistent with findings from phylogenetic analysis of the entire lineage. Our data bring new insights regarding patterns of dispersal and population genetic structure to this endemic and endangered group of island taxa. As island environments become increasingly fragmented, information of this type has important implications for the successful management of these fragile populations and habitats.
Post‐pollination process in a partially self‐compatible distylous plant, Primula sieboldii (Primulaceae)
Authors: NISHIHIRO JUN , WASHITANI IZUMI
Published: March 2011

Pollen germination and pollen‐tube growth under natural conditions were observed in a population of a distylous species, Primula sieboldii, in which partial self‐compatibility has been demonstrated in some long‐styled genets. We observed post‐pollination processes microscopically in styles collected after self‐morph and inter‐morph hand pollination (with standardized pollen load on the stigmas) in four genets each from the following three ‘genet types’: self‐incompatible long‐styled (SI), partially self‐compatible long‐styled (SC) and self‐incompatible short‐styled morph genets. Irrespective of the genet type, pollen germination began within 24 h after pollination and tubes of pollen reached to the style base with 48–96 h after inter‐morph pollination. Although pollen tubes germinated after self‐pollination in the SC genets, the number of germinated pollen tubes was significantly lower than in the case of inter‐morph pollination. Few pollen tubes germinated after self‐pollination of the SI or short‐styled genets. In SC genets, the rate of pollen‐tube growth did not differ between self‐morph and inter‐morph pollination (∼1.9 mm/day). Therefore, differences in self‐compatibility between SC and SI genets in P. sieboldii are likely to be attributable to differential pollen germination rates rather than to differential pollen‐tube growth rates.
Frequency of hereditary thrombophilia, anticoagulant activity, and homocysteine levels in patients with hemolysis, elevated liver functions and low thrombocyte count (HELLP) syndrome
Authors: Dogan Ovgu Ozkan , Simsek Yavuz , Celen Sevki , Danisman Nuri
Published: March 2011

Aim:  The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlations between thrombophilic mutations, anticoagulant activity and hemolysis, elevated liver functions and low thrombocyte count (HELLP) syndrome.

Material and Methods:  Twenty‐five healthy pregnant women (control group) and 34 patients with HELLP syndrome (study group) were included in the study between April 2007 and January 2008. Homocysteine levels and activities of protein C, protein S and antithrombin III of the groups were compared. Frequency of factor V Leiden mutation, prothrombin 20210A mutation and C677 T mutation of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene were also compared.

Results:  Frequencies of thrombophilic gene mutations of the two groups were not significantly different. Homocysteine levels were significantly higher in the study group. Protein C and protein S deficiencies of the two groups were similar. Antithrombin III deficiency was statistically higher in the patients with HELLP syndrome.

Conclusion:  The frequency of antithrombin III deficiency and homocysteine levels were higher in the patients with HELLP syndrome; however, there was no positive relationship between hereditary thrombophilic mutations and the disease. Larger prospective studies are needed to validate our findings.
Methanogenic diversity and activity in hypersaline sediments of the centre of the Napoli mud volcano, Eastern Mediterranean Sea
Authors: Lazar Cassandre Sara , Parkes R. John , Cragg Barry A. , L'Haridon Stéphane , Toffin Laurent
Published: March 2011

Submarine mud volcanoes are a significant source of methane to the atmosphere. The Napoli mud volcano, situated in the brine‐impacted Olimpi Area of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, emits mainly biogenic methane particularly at the centre of the mud volcano. Temperature gradients support the suggestion that Napoli is a cold mud volcano with moderate fluid flow rates. Biogeochemical and molecular genetic analyses were carried out to assess the methanogenic activity rates, pathways and diversity in the hypersaline sediments of the centre of the Napoli mud volcano. Methylotrophic methanogenesis was the only significant methanogenic pathway in the shallow sediments (0–40 cm) but was also measured throughout the sediment core, confirming that methylotrophic methanogens could be well adapted to hypersaline environments. Hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis was the dominant pathway below 50 cm; however, low rates of acetoclastic methanogenesis were also present, even in sediment layers with the highest salinity, showing that these methanogens can thrive in this extreme environment. PCR‐DGGE and methyl coenzyme M reductase gene libraries detected sequences affiliated with anaerobic methanotrophs (mainly ANME‐1) as well as Methanococcoides methanogens. Results show that the hypersaline conditions in the centre of the Napoli mud volcano influence active biogenic methane fluxes and methanogenic/methylotrophic diversity.
Tobacco, nicotine and harm reduction
Authors: LE HOUEZEC JACQUES , MCNEILL ANN , BRITTON JOHN
Published: March 2011

Issues. Tobacco smoking, sustained by nicotine dependence, is a chronic relapsing disorder, which in many cases results in lifelong cigarette use and consequent death of one out of two lifelong smokers from a disease caused by their smoking. Most toxicity due to cigarette smoking is related to the burning process.

Approach. Models of harm reduction applied to tobacco suggest that use of non‐combustible, less toxic, nicotine‐containing products as a substitute for cigarette smoking would reduce the death toll arising from tobacco use. Available options include medicinal nicotine and smokeless tobacco products.

Key Findings. The potential role of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products in a harm reduction strategy is currently severely restricted by strict regulations on dose, safety and potential addictiveness. As a result, NRT products are designed to provide much less nicotine, and deliver it to the brain more slowly, than cigarettes, which are widely accessible and poorly regulated. Smokeless tobacco (snus) has proved to be an acceptable reduced hazard alternative to smoking in Sweden, but supply of snus is illegal elsewhere in the European Union.

Implications. To increase accessibility and reach more smokers, barriers to the use of NRT use need to be removed and more effective NRTs need urgently to be developed. Smokeless tobacco could also play an important role in harm reduction, but current European Union regulations and concerns over exploitation by tobacco companies currently preclude wider use.

Conclusion. To improve public health there is an urgent need for an appropriate regulatory framework and regulatory authority at the European level, controlling both tobacco and nicotine products to ensure that the least harmful products are the most accessible.[Le Houezec J, McNeill A, Britton J. Tobacco, nicotine and harm reduction. Drug Alcohol Rev 2011;30:119–123]
Buying cannabis in ‘coffee shops’
Authors: MONSHOUWER KARIN , VAN LAAR MARGRIET , VOLLEBERGH WILMA A.
Published: March 2011

Issues. The key objective of Dutch cannabis policy is to prevent and limit the risks of cannabis consumption for users, their direct environment and society (‘harm reduction’). This paper will focus on the tolerated sale of cannabis in ‘coffee shops’.

Approach. We give a brief overview of Dutch policy on coffee shops, its history and recent developments. Furthermore, we present epidemiological data that may be indicative of the effects of the coffee shop policy on cannabis and other drug use.

Key Findings. Dutch coffee shop policy has become more restrictive in recent years and the number of coffee shops has decreased. Cannabis prevalence rates in the adult population are somewhat below the European average; the rate is relatively high among adolescents; and age of first use appears to be low. On a European level, the use of hard drugs in both the Dutch adult and adolescent population is average to low (except for ecstasy among adults).

Implications and Conclusions. International comparisons do not suggest a strong, upward effect of the coffee shop system on levels of cannabis use, although prevalence rates among Dutch adolescents give rise to concern. Furthermore, the coffee shop system appears to be successful in separating the hard and soft drugs markets. Nevertheless, in recent years, issues concerning the involvement of organised crime and the public nuisance related to drug tourism have given rise to several restrictive measures on the local level and have sparked a political debate on the reform of Dutch drug policy.[Monshouwer K, van Laar M, Vollebergh WA. Buying cannabis in ‘coffee shops’. Drug Alcohol Rev 2011;30:148–156]
Translation as Erasure: Thoughts on Modernity's Epistemic Violence
Authors: VÁZQUEZ ROLANDO
Published: March 2011

This essay opens the question of translation so as to reflect upon the movement at the borders of modernity. In particular it focuses on the question of translation as erasure, that is, as a mechanism through which modernity expands and demarcates its proper place, its territory. This operation of translation renders invisible everything that does not fit in the “parameters of legibility” of modernity's epistemic territory. Modernity's epistemic territory designates both the realm where the discourses of modernity thrive and their very horizon of intelligibility. Translation brings to view the epistemic borders where a politics of visibility is at play between erasure and visibility, disdain and recognition. To recognize the political content of modernity's epistemic territory is to recognize that the question of global social inequality cannot be addressed simply as the consequence of an incomplete modernity. It is to acknowledge that knowledge has been part and parcel of the modern / colonial systems of oppression and destitution. The epistemic territorial practices are such that all that lies outside their realm is made invisible, is excluded from the real and is actively disdained, even unnamed. At the borders their is the movement of rejection but also the movement of incorporation; where translation appears as a process of selection, classification and appropriation that erases all that does not fit into the proper place of the already established epistemic territory. The final part of the essay looks for that which escapes from the movement of translation as incorporation and addresses the question of untranslatability. This question help us reveal elements that are outside the field of appropriation of modernity. Finally we speak of translation as struggle. Thinking in terms of epistemic translation is already to begin thinking with a vocabulary of transition, of the borders; not transition in terms of chronological change, but rather referring to a transit at the borders of modernity's epistemic territory. The epistemic hegemony of modernity rests in a politics of border keeping, a politics of epistemic translation.
Some Epistemic and Methodological Challenges within an Intercultural Experience
Authors: RESTREPO PAULA
Published: March 2011

My experience with the Intercultural Indigenous System of Learning and Studies (SIIDAE) in Chiapas gave rise to a dialogue on two different levels: intercultural and interdisciplinary. I understand dialogue here as a very complex model of translation that, at the same time, challenges the unilateral conception of translation. This article reports the decolonial challenges raised by SIIDAE during our dialogue and responds to these challenges by proposing an intercultural reflection on anthropological practice and on its geohistorical context, and by showing the need of an intercultural transformation of society and of anthropology itself.
Translating Race and Caste
Authors: SLATE NICO
Published: March 2011

In the late nineteenth century, Indian and African American social reformers began to compare struggles against racial oppression in the United States with movements against caste oppression in India. The majority of these reformers ignored what was lost in translating messy particularities of identity, status and hierarchy into the words “race” and “caste” and then again translating between these words. While exploring the limitations of such a double translation, this article argues that race/caste analogies were often utilized in opposition to white supremacy, caste oppression, and other forms of injustice.
Internal Embeddedness, Headquarters Involvement, and Innovation Importance in Multinational Enterprises
Authors: Ciabuschi Francesco , Dellestrand Henrik , Martín Oscar Martín
Published: March 2011

abstract

In this paper we apply a business network perspective to investigate the effects of internal embeddedness and headquarters involvement on subsidiaries' innovation‐related competencies, and on the perceived importance of innovation in multinational enterprises. A model framed in the innovation context is developed and six hypotheses are tested on 85 innovation projects in 23 multinational enterprises using partial least squares based structural equation modelling. The results suggest that, contrary to predictions of the business network perspective, headquarters involvement in the innovation development process improves subsidiary competencies while internal embeddedness does not. Headquarters involvement, driven by subsidiary internal embeddedness, enhances the innovation impact on the subsidiary, which in turn influences innovation importance at corporate level. Thus, the business network perspective is challenged but at the same time expanded in terms of highlighting the role of, and interplay between, different internal corporate actors, particularly the role of headquarters, in developing competencies and creating competitive advantage.
Cultural Evaluations in Acquired Companies: Focusing on Subjectivities
Authors: Zueva‐Owens Anna , Fotaki Marianna , Ghauri Pervez
Published: March 2011

In 1988, Nahavandi and Malekzadeh suggested that differences between acquired and acquiring companies' cultures did not necessarily cause members of the former to evaluate the acquirers' cultures negatively. Although their work was widely cited, the questions of how members of acquired companies form their cultural evaluations and what drives the evaluation dynamics remain unexplored. We attribute this to the lack of a theoretical language in the acquisition literature for talking about the subjectivities of the people in the acquired companies and their understanding of cultures. In this paper, we extend Nahavandi and Malekzadeh's work by introducing a conceptualization of subjectivity based on a post‐structuralist perspective, as constituted by various discourses in their environment. In three cases of acquired companies, we explore the discursive frames employees use to form their cultural evaluations, and the links between these discursive frames and the employees' accounts of immediate events, in order to understand the changes in cultural evaluations over time. The findings indicate (i) a temporal aspect in people's use of different discursive frames to construct their cultural evaluations, and (ii) that the shifts in the use of discursive frames lead to changes in cultural evaluations.
PARETO HONOURING POVERTY REDUCTION
Authors: Mukherjee Diganta
Published: March 2011

Policy reforms often pit the poor against the poor by triggering a fall in poverty for some but an increase in poverty for others. Aggregated national measures gloss over these fine patterns and pronounce ‘a reduction in poverty’– is such aggregation across poor individuals ethically permissible? Addressing this type of aggregation is a hard issue. This paper has made an attempt in that direction by outlining an axiomatically grounded aggregate measure of such gains or losses, duly giving more importance to the losses to a poor compared to the gains of another poor.
Big Societies, Little Platoons and the Problems with Pluralism
Authors: BARKER RODNEY
Published: March 2011

Conservative talk of a ‘big society’ is one more mutation of the unstable family of pluralism. It is a large family, with both benign and progressive left wing members and rogue right wing black sheep. The progressive contribution has been substantial, but pluralism is not a homogeneous ideology or set of policies, and the single word conceals stresses and irreconcilable oppositions in theory and practice. An examination of this variety gives clues to the latest contributions, and to some of the more regressive uses to which pluralism can be put. The left needs both to insist on its own major contribution to progressive pluralism, and to beware of wolves in pluralist clothing.
Letter from North Haven … Or What the President Should Do Next
Authors: COLLS ROBERT
Published: March 2011

Letter from North Haven is an essay on American national identity that shows the depth of small town mentalities in American life—no matter that that life is mainly urban and industrial. We move from Chicago School sociology to the Catcher in the Rye; from Bob Dylan to Steven Spielberg; from Jacksonian Democracy to the Tea Party movement. The essay ends by using the example of politics in North Haven, Maine, to call upon the President to revive his campaign by explaining America's problems in the plain style and tangible context of small town USA.
A Big Idea for the Big Society? The Advent of National Citizen Service
Authors: MYCOCK ANDREW , TONGE JONATHAN
Published: March 2011

The proposed introduction of National Citizen Service (NCS) by the Conservative party survived the negotiations with the Liberal Democrats and forms part of the coalition's policy agenda. The idea forms part of the concern of Cameronian Conservatives to create a big society, based primarily upon volunteering and civil engagement. Drawing upon comparisons with state and private sector‐led models of citizen volunteering in Germany and the United States, this article explores the evolving rationale for the introduction of NCS and evaluates the issues and pitfalls which may arise.
The Quango Conundrum
Authors: GASH TOM , RUTTER JILL
Published: March 2011

Quangos (or more accurately, arm's length bodies) are the subject of repeated culls by incoming governments, yet individually are seen as useful devices to reassure the public and give confidence in the performance of public functions. We argue that the confused landscape and poor governance has contributed to the view that, as a class, ALBs are inefficient and unaccountable. The government needs to take the opportunity of its review to rationalise the complex landscape of ALBs, and put governance on a more robust long‐term footing based on the degree of freedom an ALB needs to command public confidence.
The Contradictory Political Economy of Higher Education in the United Kingdom
Authors: WATSON MATTHEW
Published: March 2011

The Coalition government's first Comprehensive Spending Review will cut 40% from university budgets by 2014. This will result in an increasingly tension‐prone political economy of UK higher education. As it is, the sector already sits uncomfortably astride the two distinct welfare models currently in existence in Britain. As the fees agenda has taken hold, university degrees have been increasingly susceptible to being rebranded as a strategic investment in the future, thus acting as an exemplar for the move towards an asset‐based system of welfare. Despite this, even in the post‐Browne world students will still not be charged the full market price of delivering degree programmes. Higher education institutions therefore continue to be redistributive mechanisms providing long‐term welfare‐enhancing transfer payments to their overwhelmingly middle‐class student base. The budget cuts and the associated changes to student finance will bring into stark relief the contradictions of serving two welfare masters at once.
CORPORATE CAPACITY AND PUBLIC SERVICE PERFORMANCE
Authors: ANDREWS RHYS , BOYNE GEORGE
Published: March 2011

Corporate capacity is arguably a key determinant of the success or failure of public sector organizations. However, while there is growing evidence on the extent of corporate capacity, few researchers have systematically examined whether it is linked to public service performance. Does a larger corporate centre lead to better or worse performance for the organization as a whole? To answer this question we apply seemingly unrelated regression to measures of effectiveness, cost‐effectiveness and equity in English local government. We find that the effect of corporate capacity on performance is nonlinear, following an inverted u‐shaped pattern, and that its positive effect turns negative around the mean for effectiveness and cost‐effectiveness, and above the mean for equity. The study therefore suggests that senior managers face important trade‐offs between organizational goals when deciding on the appropriate level of corporate capacity.
THE TRADITION OF MINISTERIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ITS ROLE IN THE BUREAUCRATIC MANAGEMENT OF CRISES
Authors: STARK ALASTAIR
Published: March 2011

This article explores the relationship between the United Kingdom's doctrine of ministerial responsibility and bureaucratic efforts to control four contemporary crises. Evidence emerges from a series of interviews with experienced crisis managers, which draws attention to the way in which this convention: (1) tacitly conditioned the thinking and behaviour of bureaucratic crisis actors through their sensitivity to political risk; and (2) was reinterpreted and utilized instrumentally by political and bureaucratic agents in response to the dilemmas posed by each crisis. The analysis of these themes connects governance and crisis literatures together by shedding light on the interaction between governance ‘traditions’, 21st century crisis episodes and the requirements of crisis management.
Encyclopaedia, Genealogy, Tradition: A Sociocultural Critique of MacIntyre's Three Moral Discourses
Authors: Mouzelis Nicos
Published: March 2011

The paper provides a critical account of Alasdair MacIntyre's moral theory. It argues that, contrary to his position, the three discourses that he examines, as attempts to provide moral guidelines to one's life trajectory are complementary, under late-modern conditions, rather than contradictory.
Cross-Generational Gender Constructions. Women, Teenagers and Technology
Authors: Thornham Helen , McFarlane Angela
Published: March 2011

Despite the supposed inroads of feminism, gender equality and new ‘democratic’ means of technological communication, adult women and teenage girls in the UK continue to emphasise what Valerie Walkerdine has termed the ‘habitual “feminine” position of incompetence’ (2006, 526). This article draws on two complimentary research projects in order to investigate the cross-generational gender constructions women and teenagers articulate. Drawing on Negra's notion of a ‘cover story’ (2009, 44), this article suggests that we can read the claims and practices of the women and teenagers in terms of how they frame new ideologies of femininity. Further, the continual recourse to an essential feminine position of exclusion is detrimentally shaping not only technological use, but also the wider operationalization of gender in public and private arenas. Focussing specifically on the female populations of the research projects, we demonstrate how gender continues to emerge and be produced by women and girls in negotiated, but highly problematic ways. Rather than considering gender as a determining force, it emerges here as a carefully constructed tool for engagement, and as a distancing device facilitating a claim of, and towards, disinterest. The two projects suggest implications for future mediations and relations with new media technology; they also suggest that across generations, women are detrimentally fixing and restricting potential and actual performances of gender through the evocation of a more traditional femininity.
Phase I/II clinical trial of 2‐difluoromethyl‐ornithine (DFMO) and a novel polyamine transport inhibitor (MQT 1426) for feline oral squamous cell carcinoma*
Authors: Skorupski K. A. , O'Brien T. G. , Guerrero T. , Rodriguez C. O. , Burns M. R.
Published: March 2011

Polyamines are essential for cell proliferation. Their production is dysregulated in many cancers and polyamine depletion leads to tumour regression in mouse models of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The purpose of this study was to determine the maximally tolerated dose of the polyamine transport inhibitor, MQT 1426, when combined with the ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) inhibitor, DFMO, and to determine whether this therapy results in reduction in tumour polyamine levels. Thirteen cats with oral SCC received both drugs orally and serial tumour biopsies were obtained for polyamine measurement. Cats were monitored for response to therapy and toxicity. A maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of MQT 1426 when combined with DFMO was determined. Dose‐limiting toxicity was vestibular in nature, but was fully reversible. Spermidine and total polyamine levels decreased significantly in tissues, two cats experienced objective tumour regression and six cats had stable disease. These results suggest that further study of polyamine depletion therapies is warranted.
Red blood cell transfusion of preterm neonates with a Grade 1 intraventricular hemorrhage is associated with extension to a Grade 3 or 4 hemorrhage
Authors: Baer Vickie L. , Lambert Diane K. , Henry Erick , Snow Gregory L. , Christensen Robert D.
Published: March 2011

BACKGROUND: Some preterm infants with a Grade 1 intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) are subsequently found to have a Grade 3 or 4 IVH, while in others the Grade 1 resolves without extending.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We identified all neonates in our health system in the past 6 years with a Grade 1 IVH and compared those where the hemorrhage extended versus resolved.

RESULTS: Grade 1 IVH was identified in 417 neonates; 24 subsequently became a Grade 3, and 22 a Grade 4. These 46 were born earlier, 25 ± 2 weeks versus 30 ± 3 weeks (p = 0.000), with lower birth weight, 811 ± 284 g versus 1432 ± 603 g (p = 0.000); lower 5‐minute Apgar scores, 5 ± 2 versus 8 ± 2 (p = 0.000); and slightly lower cord pH, 7.24 ± 0.16 versus 7.28 ± 0.10 (p = 0.009). Older gestational age was the most significant contributor lowering the odds of IVH extension (odds ratio [OR], 0.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.92‐0.98). Administering a red blood cell (RBC) transfusion up to and on the day the Grade 1 was detected was the most significant contributor increasing the odds (OR, 2.92; 95% CI, 2.19‐3.90) of extension. In both groups (resolving vs. extending) criteria for ordering transfusions were similar as was the proportion of transfusions given out of compliance with guidelines.

CONCLUSIONS: An association exists between RBC transfusion and extension of a Grade 1 IVH into a Grade 3 or 4. However, the explanation is unclear and could involve either the reasons transfusion are ordered or the transfusions themselves. Additional studies are needed to discover why neonates are more likely to have IVH extension if transfused.
Change by Design
Authors: Brown Tim , Katz Barry
Published: March 2011

Over the course of a century of professional practice, designers have mastered a set of skills that can be productively applied to a wider range of problems than has commonly been supposed. These include complex social problems, issues of organizational management, and strategic innovation. Conversely, non‐designers—those in leadership positions in companies, governmental and non‐governmental organizations, professionals in a broad range of services and industries—can benefit from learning how to think like designers. We offer some large‐scale and more finely grained ideas about how this might happen.
Research Opportunities Related to Consumer Response to Product Design*
Authors: Creusen Mariëlle E. H.
Published: March 2011

This essay identifies five research opportunities that concern consumer response to product design. The first opportunity involves the need for more research on the interaction between form and function in consumer product evaluations. To this end, more knowledge about how product appearance characteristics influence consumer evaluation of both product form and function, and how this differs between countries and in time, is needed. The second research opportunity concerns the influence of consumer input in the front end of new product development on product success. Although the positive effect of market information use on product success is known, more actionable insight into which consumer information or input is beneficial in which circumstances is largely missing. The third opportunity for research concerns how to include subjective product attributes in concept testing. Getting valid feedback from consumers, which includes functional as well as emotional and experiential aspects, can improve proficiency in the early stages of product development. In this essay, several ways of approaching this research endeavor are highlighted. Next to enhancing market receipt and the assessment of product design, two topics that concern consumer response to product design from a more managerial viewpoint are identified. The first of these is strategic management of product styling. The importance and opportunities of visual design for brand management has gained more attention in the literature; different strategies and the cases in which they are beneficial are issues for further research. And finally, the design of product service systems (PSSs) provides opportunities for future research. Here, engendering perceptual unity between products and services and an explicit managing of meanings and feelings that PSSs should communicate are issues at play.
Clarity in Defining Product Design: Inspiring Research Opportunities for the Design Process*
Authors: Dahl Darren W.
Published: March 2011

The author argues that given the holistic, cross‐functional, and unique nature of the process of product design, more research is needed to understand product design teams. Specifically, future research should address internal processes cultivated within the product design team, macro influences in the product design environment, and the definition of product design team membership.
This is Not About Sex? A Discussion of the Understanding of Love and Grace in Bernard of Clairvaux's and Martin Luther's Theologies
Authors: Pedersen Else Marie Wiberg
Published: March 2011

Abstract:  This article engages the understanding of love and grace in Bernard's and Luther's theologies. Taking as a point of departure Anders Nygren's dichotomy of love in agape and eros, Wiberg Pedersen outlines some of the issues raised by Nygren's thesis. Arguing against Nygren's caricature of Bernard's theology, Wiberg Pedersen shows the similarities between Bernard's and Luther's understandings of love and grace, which lead her to hypothesize that Luther was inspired by Bernard in a theologia caritatis that is simultaneously a theologia cordis (creation and inspiration) and a theologia crucis (incarnation and justification), all led by grace.
It's Personal—Or Not At All: On God as Love/r
Authors: Henriksen Jan‐Olav
Published: March 2011

Abstract:  Henriksen discusses what it means that God is personal, with special regard to the claim that God is love. If God is love, God must be understood as personal. This approach is related to different elements concerning human life and human freedom, and how to engage in human life. Also the radical alternative is suggested: instead of understanding God as love, the alternative is considered that death is God (as the final and strongest power there is). This alternative shows that it is the most likely interpretation of actual human conduct to opt for the alternative that God is love. Hence, to understand God as love is part of what it means to relate humanely and with hope to what is taking place in human life.
Syzygy: Love Made Strange
Authors: Saarinen Risto
Published: March 2011

Abstract:  This paper argues that there can be an intimate, non‐marital loving communion between two persons or, sometimes, two groups. The Christian tradition has its own concept, syzygy, for such love. An awareness of this forgotten tradition may be valuable in discussing some broader problems in the church, such as rivalry between different parties or homosexuality. The syzygic relationship of love and rivalry is characteristic of some well‐known biblical and mythological narratives.
Trends and Innovations in Public Policy Analysis
Authors: Carlson Deven
Published: March 2011

This essay identifies three notable advances that have influenced the field of public policy analysis in recent years: the move toward social experimentation, the use of meta‐analysis and Monte Carlo simulation in benefit‐cost analysis, and the rise of institutional actors that promote the practice and dissemination of high‐quality policy analysis. In addition to describing each of these innovations, this essay discusses how each of these advances has affected the practice of public policy analysis.
Lingering Debates and Innovative Advances: The State of Public Opinion Research
Authors: Mullinix Kevin J.
Published: March 2011

The intersection of public policy and public opinion has fostered the development of an extensive body of scholarly literature. Much of the research strives to disentangle the relationship between policy and opinion. For this rich area of study to continue to flourish, it is imperative that innovations in public opinion are grasped and utilized. In this essay, I synthesize the most significant advances made to policy related public opinion research in the last few years. Although debates from previous decades persist, theoretical and methodological advances lead to an increased comprehension of the nuances and complexities of the relationship between public opinion and policy.
Scapular positioning and movement in unimpaired shoulders, shoulder impingement syndrome, and glenohumeral instability
Authors: Struyf F. , Nijs J. , Baeyens J.‐P. , Mottram S. , Meeusen R.
Published: March 2011

The purpose of this manuscript is to review the knowledge of scapular positioning at rest and scapular movement in different anatomic planes in asymptomatic subjects and patients with shoulder impingement syndrome (SIS) and glenohumeral shoulder instability. We reviewed the literature for all biomechanical and kinematic studies using keywords for impingement syndrome, shoulder instability, and scapular movement published in peer reviewed journal. Based on the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 30 articles were selected for inclusion in the review. The literature is inconsistent regarding the scapular resting position. At rest, the scapula is positioned approximately horizontal, 35° of internal rotation and 10° anterior tilt. During shoulder elevation, most researchers agree that the scapula tilts posteriorly and rotates both upward and externally. It appears that during shoulder elevation, patients with SIS demonstrate a decreased upward scapular rotation, a decreased posterior tilt, and a decrease in external rotation. In patients with glenohumeral shoulder instability, a decreased scapular upward rotation and increased internal rotation is seen. This literature overview provides clinicians with insight into scapular kinematics in unimpaired shoulders and shoulders with impingement syndrome and instability.
An international survey in postgraduate training in Oral Medicine
Authors: Rogers H , Sollecito TP , Felix DH , Yepes JF , Williams M , D’Ambrosio JA , Hodgson TA , Prescott‐Clements L , Wray D , Kerr AR
Published: March 2011

Oral Diseases (2011) 17 (Suppl. 1), 95–98

Objectives:  The aim of this preliminary study was to investigate postgraduate Oral Medicine training worldwide and to begin to identify minimum requirements and/or core content for an International Oral Medicine curriculum.

Materials and Methods:  Countries where there was believed to be postgraduate training in Oral Medicine were identified by the working group. Standardized emails were sent inviting participants to complete an online survey regarding the scope of postgraduate training in Oral Medicine in their respective countries.

Results:  We received 69 total responses from 37 countries. Of these, 22 countries self‐identified as having postgraduate Oral Medicine as a distinct field of study, and they served as the study group. While there is currently considerable variation among Oral Medicine postgraduate training parameters, there is considerable congruency in clinical content of the Oral Medicine syllabi. For example, all of the training programs responded that they did evaluate competence in diagnosis and management of oral mucosal disease.

Conclusions:  This preliminary study provides the first evidence regarding international Oral Medicine postgraduate training, from which recommendations for an international core curriculum could be initiated. It is through such an initiative that a universal clinical core syllabus in postgraduate Oral Medicine training may be more feasible.
Effect of DNA polymorphisms related to fatty acid composition in adipose tissue of Holstein cattle
Authors: NARUKAMI Takahiro , SASAZAKI Shinji , OYAMA Kenji , NOGI Takuya , TANIGUCHI Masaaki , MANNEN Hideyuki
Published: March 2011

Fatty acid composition of adipose tissue has been recognized as an important carcass trait because of its relationship with eating quality such as favorable beef flavor and tenderness. Therefore, we investigated the effects of genetic polymorphisms of liver X receptor, alpha (LXR), stearoyl‐CoA desaturase (SCD), Fatty acid synthase (FASN), and Fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) on fatty acid composition in intramuscular fat tissue of Holstein steers. The major allele frequencies were 0.705 in SCD, 0.518 in FABP4, 0.888 in FASN, and 0.984 in LXR. Genotyping of SCD showed significant effect on C14:0, C14:1, C18:0 and saturated fatty acid (P < 0.05). In addition, the result suggested that SCD genotype possibly had effect on composition of C18:1 and monounsaturated fatty acid. Genotype of FABP4 had significant effect on composition of C16:0. Effect of LXR genotypes could not be analyze because of extremely biased genotype frequencies. Our results suggest that genotypes of SCD and FABP4 may in part affect meat quality in Holstein.