Contradictory

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Medical Sciences

Terms modified by Contradictory

  • contradictory conclusion
  • contradictory demand
  • contradictory effects
  • contradictory evidence
  • contradictory finding
  • contradictory report
  • contradictory result
  • contradictory trend
  • contradictory way

  • Selected Abstracts


    The ,Terrible Wednesday' of Pentecost: Confronting Urban and Princely Discourses in the Bruges Rebellion of 1436,1438

    HISTORY, Issue 305 2007
    JAN DUMOLYN
    On 22 May 1437 a violent disturbance of the social order occurred in Bruges. Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, only narrowly escaped with his life, while Jean de Villiers, lord of L'Isle-Adam, was killed. Contradictory and competing accounts of these events have survived which illustrate princely and urban discourses on the Bruges rebellion of 1436,8. Careful analysis of these sources reveals that the social and political struggles between the centralizing dukes of Burgundy and their powerful and autonomous Flemish cities reflected a discursive struggle for the representation of political events. [source]


    "Global NATO", "League of Democracies", "Union of the West": Complementary or Contradictory?

    POLITICS & POLICY, Issue 1 2009
    Article first published online: 23 JAN 200
    No abstract is available for this article. [source]


    Agoraphobia: a review of the diagnostic classificatory position and criteria,,

    DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, Issue 2 2010
    Hans-Ulrich Wittchen Ph.D.
    Abstract The status of agoraphobia (AG) as an independent diagnostic category is reviewed and preliminary options and recommendations for the fifth edition of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V) are presented. The review concentrates on epidemiology, psychopathology, neurobiology, vulnerability and risk factors, clinical course and outcome, and correlates and consequences of AG since 1990. Differences and similarities across conventions and criteria of DSM and ICD-10 are considered. Three core questions are addressed. First, what is the evidence for AG as a diagnosis independent of panic disorder? Second, should AG be conceptualized as a subordinate form of panic disorder (PD) as currently stipulated in DSM-IV-TR? Third, is there evidence for modifying or changing the current diagnostic criteria? We come to the conclusion that AG should be conceptualized as an independent disorder with more specific criteria rather than a subordinate, residual form of PD as currently stipulated in DSM-IV-TR. Among other issues, this conclusion was based on psychometric evaluations of the construct, epidemiological investigations which show that AG can exist independently of panic disorder, and the impact of agoraphobic avoidance upon clinical course and outcome. However, evidence from basic and clinic validation studies remains incomplete and partly contradictory. The apparent advantages of a more straightforward, simpler classification without implicit hierarchies and insufficiently supported differential diagnostic considerations, plus the option for improved further research, led to favoring the separate diagnostic criteria for AG as a diagnosis independent of panic disorder. Depression and Anxiety, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


    Amygdala reduction in patients with ADHD compared with major depression and healthy volunteers

    ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 2 2010
    T. Frodl
    Frodl T, Stauber J, Schaaff N, Koutsouleris N, Scheuerecker J, Ewers M, Omerovic M, Opgen-Rhein M, Hampel H, Reiser M, Möller H.-J, Meisenzahl E. Amygdala reduction in patients with ADHD compared with major depression and healthy volunteers. Objective:, Results in adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on structural brain changes and the clinical relevance are contradictory. The aim of this study was to investigate whether in adult patients with ADHD hippocampal or amygdala volumes differs from that in healthy controls and patients with major depression (MD). Method:, Twenty patients with ADHD, 20 matched patients with MD and 20 healthy controls were studied with high resolution magnetic resonance imaging. Results:, Amygdala volumes in patients with ADHD were bilaterally smaller than in patients with MD and healthy controls. In ADHD, more hyperactivity and less inattention were associated with smaller right amygdala volumes, and more symptoms of depression with larger amygdala volumes. Conclusion:, This study supports findings that the amygdala plays an important role in the systemic brain pathophysiology of ADHD. Whether patients with ADHD and larger amygdala volumes are more vulnerable to affective disorders needs further investigation. [source]


    Expression patterns of hormones, signaling molecules, and transcription factors during adenohypophysis development in the chick embryo

    DEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS, Issue 4 2010
    Nicole Parkinson
    Abstract The chick embryo is an ideal model to study pituitary cell-type differentiation. Previous studies describing the temporal appearance of differentiated pituitary cell types in the chick embryo are contradictory. To resolve these controversies, we used RT-PCR to define the temporal onset and in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry to define the spatial localization of hormone expression within the pituitary. RT-PCR detected low levels of Fsh, (gonadotropes) and Pomc (corticotropes, melanotropes) mRNA at E4 and Gh (somatotropes), Prl (lactotropes), and Tsh, (thyrotropes) mRNA at E8. For all hormones, sufficient accumulation of mRNA and/or protein to permit detection by in situ hybridization or immunohistochemistry was observed ,3 days later and in all cases corresponded to a notable increase in RT-PCR product. We also describe the expression patterns of signaling (Bmp2, Bmp4, Fgf8, Fgf10, Shh) and transcription factors (Pitx1, Pitx2, cLim3) known to be important for pituitary organogenesis in other model organisms. Developmental Dynamics 239:1197,1210, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


    Prospective studies of suicidal behavior in major depressive and bipolar disorders: what is the evidence for predictive risk factors?

    ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 3 2006
    M. A. Oquendo
    Objective:, Prospective studies over the past 30 years have identified an array of predictive indicators for suicidal acts in mood disorders. However, prediction of suicidal behavior remains an elusive goal. This paper reviewed evidence from prospective studies for clinical factors that elevate risk of suicidal acts in that group. Method:, English language prospective studies of suicidal behavior in major depressive and bipolar disorders were examined. Results:, The predictors with the best support were a past history of suicidal behavior and the presence of refractory or recurrent depressions. For other risk factors, there was either not enough data to consider them robust or findings were contradictory. Conclusion:, Future studies must not only be comprehensive in their inclusion of potentially contributing factors, but must also address their relative importance towards the goal of developing predictive models and enhance suicide prevention efforts. [source]


    A review of the epidemiological transition in dementia , cross-national comparisons of the indices related to Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia

    ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 1 2001
    Guk-Hee Suh
    Objective: To examine temporal changes in the prevalence of dementia and associated factors. Method: All publications on the epidemiology of dementia were identified using a medline search for the years 1966,1999. Results: Alzheimer's disease (AD) has become nearly twice as prevalent as vascular dementia (VaD) in Korea, Japan, and China since transition in early 1990s. Prior to this, in the 1980s, VaD was more prevalent than AD in these countries. In Nigeria, the prevalence of dementia was low. Indian studies were contradictory, with both AD and VaD being more prevalent in different studies. American and European studies consistently reported AD to be more prevalent than VaD. Conclusion: A theoretical model of transition from low incidence,high mortality society to high incidence,high mortality society to low incidence,low mortality society may explain these findings. Rigorous testing in prospective, longitudinal and population-based cross-national studies using culture-fair diagnostic instruments is required. [source]


    Estrogen and progesterone receptors in esophageal carcinoma

    DISEASES OF THE ESOPHAGUS, Issue 4 2008
    R. Kalayarasan
    SUMMARY., Information is sparse and contradictory in the literature regarding the role of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) in esophageal carcinoma. This study was conducted over a period of 18 months from September 2004 with the primary aim of determining the PR, ER alpha (ER,) and ER beta (ER,) status of esophageal carcinoma and normal esophageal mucosa (NEM). The receptor status was correlated with tumor type, tumor differentiation and tumor stage. A total of 45 patients with histologically proven squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (n = 30) and adenocarcinoma (AC) (n = 15) were studied. Receptor status was detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and semiquantitative assessment was done by quick score method of endoscopic biopsy specimens. The mean age for SCC and AC were not significantly different. The gender ratio in favor of males was 3 : 2 for SCC and 4 : 1 for AC. None of the specimens from SCC or AC showed positivity for PR both in NEM and tumor tissue. Likewise none of the specimens were positive for ER, by IHC. The mean ER, score for AC was significantly higher than SCC. For SCC it was seen that ER, positivity in tumor cells increases with dedifferentiation and increasing tumor stage. This trend was seen for AC as well. ER, is over-expressed in poorly differentiated SCC and AC compared to NEM. Thus ER, may be a marker for poor biological behavior, that is dedifferentiation or higher stage of disease. In view of these findings we propose a large-scale prospective, longitudinal interventional study using selective estrogen modulators. [source]


    Comparative seed ecology of the endangered shrub, Pimelea spicata and a threatening weed, Bridal Creeper: Smoke, heat and other fire-related germination cues

    ECOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT & RESTORATION, Issue 1 2003
    Anthony J. Willis
    SummaryPimelea spicata R. Br. is a nationally listed endangered Australian shrub threatened with extinction by habitat fragmentation and environmental weed invasion. Bridal Creeper (Asparagus asparagoides L. W. Wight) is the primary weed threat to the largest remaining populations of P. spicata in the Cumberland Plain. Fire, as part of an integrated pest management program, offers the potential to stimulate P. spicata populations while controlling Bridal Creeper. It is important, therefore, to understand how the components of fire affect the germination and growth of both species. Using laboratory experiments we investigated the effects of smoke, heat, ash and/or light on the germination of P. spicata and Bridal Creeper. We found a significant promotive effect of smoke and indication of an inhibitory heat shock (90°C for 10 min) effect on the germination of P. spicata seeds. The response of Bridal Creeper seeds to the same factors was complex; while the results of one experiment suggested an inhibitory effect of smoke and a promotive effect of heat, subsequent trials were contradictory, implying that Bridal Creeper, like many weeds, is able to germinate under a wide range of environmental conditions. Other experiments investigated the optimal germination temperature and innate dormancy of P. spicata in the absence of fire-related germination cues. Of the incubation temperatures investigated, the optimal diurnally fluctuating regime for P. spicata germinations was 10°C and 20°C in the night and day, respectively. The innate dormancy of freshly produced seeds disappeared after 3 months. In contrast to Bridal Creeper, we found a persistent germinable seed bank of about 97 P. spicata seeds/m2 located in the top 5 cm of the soil profile. While fire alone is unlikely to kill Bridal Creeper plants, fire may help to manage local infestations of the weed by limiting germination and providing opportunity for herbicide treatment of regrowth. [source]


    The Expansion of the Finance Industry and Its Impact on the Economy: A Territorial Approach Based on Swiss Pension Funds

    ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2009
    José Corpataux
    abstract A new economic geography of finance is emerging, and the current "financialization" of contemporary economies has contributed greatly to the reshaping of the economic landscape. How can these changes be understood and interpreted, especially from a territorial point of view? There are two contradictory economic theories regarding the tangible effects of the rise of the finance industry. According to neoclassical financial theorists, the finance industry's success is based on its positive effects on the real economy through its capacity to allocate financial resources efficiently. An alternative approach, adopted here, posits that finance does not merely mirror the real economy and that the financial economy, far from being a simple instrument for the allocation of capital, has its own autonomy, its own logic of development and expansion. A series of complex, and sometimes contradictory, connections link financial markets and the real economy, and there are some tensions between them, calling into question the coherence of the regional and national economies that follow from them. Moreover, the territorial approach shows how the mobility/liquidity of capital and the changing dimensions of new regions and countries are central to the finance industry's functioning. This article builds an understanding of the financial system through the lens of pension funds and highlights the impact of such a system on the real economy and its geography. [source]


    Capital Versus the Districts: A Tale of One Multinational Company's Attempt to Disembed Itself

    ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2004
    N. A. Phelps
    Abstract: The process of international economic integration in which multinational enterprises (MNEs) play a significant orchestrating role is a contradictory one of a space of flows, on the one hand, and a space of places, on the other hand. It is this contradiction that produces a variegated landscape of relations within and among MNEs and a whole range of territorially rooted organizations and institutions. As a result, interest in global production networks, as part of a broader relational turn in economic geography, has sought to highlight and uncover these webs of relations within which MNEs are embedded. In reviewing this literature, we emphasize the economic imperatives underlying such relations or, rather, their political-economic nature and the discontinuities in industrial restructuring they can produce. We then present an empirical illustration of these points and some of the key concerns within the literature on global production networks. We consider a recent round of restructuring by Black & Decker Corporation, focusing on the politico-economic ramifications of closing one of two European factories. Our reading of the literature, coupled with our empirical findings, suggests the continuing tendency for international integration as a space of flows to eclipse the coherence of places. Localized points of resistance can moderate the powers exercised by MNEs internally and across a network of organizations, although there are limits to the transferability of such tactics of resistance. [source]


    Females, their estrogens, and seizures

    EPILEPSIA, Issue 2010
    Jana Velí
    Summary Estrogens are essential for normal brain functions. The effects of estrogens on seizures are contradictory. More studies are necessary to determine under which conditions the estrogens have proconvulsant effects and when the estrogens may have beneficial action in patients with epilepsy. [source]


    Seizure Outcome after Temporal Lobectomy: Current Research Practice and Findings

    EPILEPSIA, Issue 10 2001
    A. M. McIntosh
    Summary: ,Purpose: The literature regarding seizure outcome and prognostic factors for outcome after temporal lobectomy is often contradictory. This is problematic, as these data are the basis on which surgical decisions and counseling are founded. We sought to clarify inconsistencies in the literature by critically examining the methods and findings of recent research. Methods: A systematic review of the 126 articles concerning temporal lobectomy outcome published from 1991 was conducted. Results: Major methodologic issues in the literature were heterogeneous definitions of seizure outcome, a predominance of cross-sectional analyses (83% of studies), and relatively short follow-up in many studies. The range of seizure freedom was wide (33,93%; median, 70%); there was a tendency for better outcome in more recent studies. Of 63 factors analyzed, good outcome appeared to be associated with several factors including preoperative hippocampal sclerosis, anterior temporal localization of interictal epileptiform activity, absence of preoperative generalized seizures, and absence of seizures in the first postoperative week. A number of factors had no association with outcome (e.g., age at onset, preoperative seizure frequency, and extent of lateral resection). Conclusions: Apparently conflicting results in the literature may be explained by the methodologic issues identified here (e.g., sample size, selection criteria and method of analysis). To obtain a better understanding of patterns of long-term outcome, increased emphasis on longitudinal analytic methods is required. The systematic review of possible risk factors for seizure recurrence provides a basis for planning further research. [source]


    Mother,Child Relationships in France: Balancing Autonomy and Affiliation in Everyday Interactions

    ETHOS, Issue 3 2004
    MARIE-ANNE SUIZZO
    French child-rearing beliefs share features of both individualist and collectivist cultural orientations and have appeared contradictory within this individualism,collectivism framework in previous research. For this study, 32 Parisian mothers of infants and young children were interviewed regarding four possible sources of variation in their relationships with their children: interpersonal distance, communicative accommodation, desirable and undesirable early behaviors, and long-term goals and values. Five themes are identified and a cultural model of Parisian parenting is elaborated, demonstrating how beliefs, practices, and goals are connected in mothers' minds. This study demonstrates that individualism and collectivism are orthogonal, multifaceted orientations, each containing dimensions, such as autonomy as separateness and group affiliation and belonging, that can coexist both harmoniously and in dynamic tension within individuals and within cultures. [source]


    The Birth of the CAP Die Geburt der GAP La naissance de la PAC

    EUROCHOICES, Issue 2 2008
    David R. Stead
    Summary The Birth of the CAP Fifty years ago, a Conference was held at Stresa which could be said to be the single event that most appropriately marks the birth of the CAP. Although five policy objectives had been written into the 1957 Treaty of Rome, these have been widely criticised for being vague and contradictory, and the Treaty contained very few stipulations on the specific policy instruments to be adopted. The Stresa Conference made important, but incomplete, progress towards finalising the policy framework. Most notably, it was generally agreed to avoid a level of price support that created unwanted commodity surpluses and inhibited structural adjustment. But these good intentions, and the positive ,European spirit' of the Conference, began to unravel as soon as the fraught decisions were taken on the details of unifying the protectionist agricultural policies of six different countries. In particular, the decision to fix the initial level of common cereals prices at the upper end of the national spread set an unsatisfactory reference point for other support prices; and an attempt to introduce a genuine common structural policy was rejected. At the turn of the 1970s, the CAP was clearly unbalanced and protectionist, but the Community's first fully-fledged common policy had been constructed. Il y a cinquante ans, s'est tenue à Stresa une Conférence qui pourrait être considérée comme l'évènement unique qui marque le mieux la naissance de la PAC. Bien que cinq objectifs pour l'action publique aient été inscrits dans le Traité de Rome en 1957, leur caractère imprécis et contradictoire a fait l'objet de nombreuses critiques et le Traité ne comportait que de très rares indications sur les instruments de politique à adopter. La Conférence de Stresa a permis de réaliser des progrès importants mais incomplets dans la définition du cadre de l'action publique. Intéressant à noter, il a généralement été convenu d'éviter un niveau de soutien des prix qui engendrerait des surplus excessifs de produits de base et empêcherait l'ajustement structurel. Mais ces bonnes intentions, ainsi que l'esprit "européen" positif de la Conférence, ont commencéà se dissoudre dès que des décisions problématiques furent prises sur le détail de l'uniformisation des politiques agricoles protectionnistes de six pays différents. En particulier, la décision consistant à fixer le niveau initial des prix communs des céréales à la borne supérieur du spectre des prix nationaux a constitué un point de référence peu satisfaisant pour les autres prix de soutien; et la tentative d'introduire une vraie politique commune des structures a avorté. Au tournant des années soixante dix, la PAC était nettement déséquilibrée et protectionniste, mais la première politique complètement commune de la Communautéétait en place. Vor 50 Jahren fand in Stresa eine Konferenz statt, bei welcher es sich wohl um das einzige Ereignis handelt, welches am zutreffendsten als Geburtstag der GAP betrachtet werden kann. Obgleich die politische Zielsetzung bereits 1957 in den Römischen Verträgen festgelegt worden war, standen diese wegen ihrer vagen Formulierung und Widersprüchlichkeit häufig im Kreuzfeuer der Kritik. Die Verträge enthielten nur sehr wenige konkrete Vereinbarungen im Hinblick auf die einzuführenden politischen Instrumente. Durch die Konferenz in Stresa konnten wichtige, jedoch unvollständige, Fortschritte bei der Ausarbeitung der politischen Rahmenbedingungen erzielt werden. Vor allem gab es den allgemeinen Konsens, dass es aufgrund der Preisstützung nicht zu unerwünschten Überschüssen bei Agrarprodukten und zu einer Hemmung der Strukturanpassungen kommen dürfe. Diese guten Absichten und die "europäische Gesinnung" der Konferenz schwanden jedoch, als die bedeutsamen Entscheidungen hinsichtlich der Einzelheiten für die Vereinheitlichung der protektionistischen Agrarpolitiken der sechs verschiedenen Länder getroffen wurden. Insbesondere die Entscheidung, das Anfangsniveau der gemeinsamen Preise für Getreide an der oberen Grenze der nationalen Preisspannen festzumachen, legte einen unbefriedigenden Referenzpunkt für die übrigen Stützpreise fest. Der Vorschlag, eine originär gemeinsame Strukturpolitik einzuführen, wurde abgelehnt. Um 1970 war die GAP eindeutig unausgewogen und protektionistisch; der Entwurf der ersten vollständigen gemeinsamen Politik der Gemeinschaft war jedoch abgeschlossen. [source]


    Growing supranational identities in a globalising world?

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH, Issue 5 2008
    A multilevel analysis of the World Values Surveys
    Using the World Values Surveys (WVS), this article shows that there is a global pattern in public attitudes toward supranational identity: the younger the respondent, the more supranational. Yet a life-cycle effect, as opposed to a generational one, underlies this pattern. A multilevel analysis confirms this age effect on supranational identification in 43 countries covered in the recent wave of the WVS, but provides little support for the idea that a country's integration into the global economy and world society promotes supranational attachments among mass publics, especially youths. Regional integration and globalisation appear either complementary or contradictory to this identity shift, depending upon how ordinary citizens perceive their country's involvement in the processes of regional integration and globalisation, respectively. [source]


    Distinguishing the effects of beliefs and preconditions: the folk psychology of goals and actions

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2005
    Ann Boonzaier
    Two studies examined lay people's understanding of goals and intentional actions, which are key concepts in folk psychology. The studies show how predictions of goals and actions are affected by actors' beliefs about their abilities and their actual possession of the preconditions required for the actions. In some conditions, the beliefs and the preconditions were contradictory. Actors' beliefs about their abilities shaped observers' goal ascriptions, whereas actual preconditions dominated predictions about action accomplishment. Participants judged the relationship between goals and actions to be stronger when preconditions were present. Participants judged that neither beliefs nor preconditions were necessary for the actor to have action fantasies. These studies clarify how folk psychological concepts of desires, beliefs, and preconditions relate to each other and how they relate to attributions of goals and actions. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Corporate Social Responsibility European Style

    EUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 2 2008
    Olivier De Schutter
    This article explains how, while CSR may have been initially an idea about the scope of the responsibility of companies towards their environment, it has now become a process in which the representatives of the business community have come to occupy the main role, and whose purpose is to promote learning among business organisations, rather than to identify the components of a regulatory framework for CSR. The central question now, therefore, is whether the so-called ,business case' for CSR is strong enough, so that we may hope that the forces of market will suffice to encourage companies to behave responsibly, over and above their obligation to comply with their legal obligations. The article shows, however, that this case rests on certain presuppositions about markets and the business environment, which cannot be simply assumed, but should be affirmatively created by a regulatory framework for CSR. Following the introduction, it proceeds in four stages. First, it examines the development of CSR in the EU. Second, it offers a critical examination of the so-called ,business case' for CSR, taking into account the growing diversity within the enlarged EU. It then discusses, as an alternative, what a regulatory framework for CSR could resemble, highlighting a number of initiatives which have been taken in this regard by the EU. The article finally concludes that, since the failure of the European Multi-Stakeholder Forum on CSR in 2004, the debate has made a turn in the wrong direction, both because of the mistaken view that the establishment of a regulatory framework for CSR would threaten the competitiveness of European companies, and because of the naive (and contradictory) view that reliance on market mechanisms will suffice to ensure that corporations will seek to minimise the negative social and environmental impacts of their activities, even in circumstances where they are not legally obliged to do so. [source]


    The State of Gender Equality Law in the European Union

    EUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 2 2007
    Annick Masselot
    As a fundamental right, the principle of gender equality is to apply in all areas of EU law. Its scope has been extended to the access to and supply of goods and services and, according to the European Court of Justice, to the Third Pillar. Despite efforts to render the principle visible and accessible, a number of provisions remain unclear and contradictory. The contribution of external actors in this field is set to help safeguarding and enhancing the Community gender equality acquis. [source]


    Functional characterization of highly adherent CD34+ keratinocytes isolated from human skin

    EXPERIMENTAL DERMATOLOGY, Issue 7 2010
    Araika Gutiérrez-Rivera
    Please cite this paper as: Functional characterization of highly adherent CD34+ keratinocytes isolated from human skin. Experimental Dermatology 2010; 19: 685,688. Abstract:, Compared to murine models, data on cells responsible for the homeostasis of human epidermis are scarce and often contradictory. Given the conflicting results and the availability of clinical grade protocols to purify CD34 cells from a given tissue, we pursued to phenotypically characterize human epidermal CD34+ population. After magnetic separation of whole skin CD34+ and CD34, cell fractions and selection for cells highly adherent to extracellular matrix, both CD34± fractions retained the ability to form a stratified epidermis in organotypic cultures and presented similar in vitro migratory phenotypes. However CD34, cells showed higher clonogenic potential and in vitro proliferative capacity. These results indicated that CD34, cell fraction contains stem/early progenitor cells, while CD34+ cells might be a transit-amplifying precursor for hair follicle (HF) sheath cells. The ability to isolate living cells using differential cell adhesion and surface markers provides an opportunity to study cells from different morphological regions of the HF. [source]


    Flow cytometric analysis of the localization of Helicobacter pylori antigens during different growth phases

    FEMS IMMUNOLOGY & MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 3 2001
    Kristina Blom
    Abstract Previous studies on the localization of several different Helicobacter pylori antigens have been contradictory. We have therefore examined by using both one- and two-color flow cytometry (FCM), immunofluorescence (IF), and immunoelectron microscopy (IEM), the possible surface localization of some H. pylori antigens that may be important virulence factors. All four methods detected the lipopolysaccharide and the N -acetyl-neuroaminyllactose-binding hemagglutinin protein (HpaA) as surface-exposed, while the urease enzyme was not detected at all and the neutrophil activating protein only in low concentration on the surface of the H. pylori bacteria during culture of H. pylori in liquid broth for 11 days. The FCM analysis was found to be quite sensitive and specific and also extremely fast compared with IF and IEM, and therefore the preferred method for detection of surface-localized antigens of H. pylori. [source]


    Production of fermentation aroma compounds by Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine yeasts: effects of yeast assimilable nitrogen on two model strains

    FEMS YEAST RESEARCH, Issue 7 2008
    Francisco M. Carrau
    Abstract The contribution of yeast fermentation metabolites to the aromatic profile of wine is well documented; however, the biotechnological application of this knowledge, apart from strain selection, is still rather limited and often contradictory. Understanding and modeling the relationship between nutrient availability and the production of desirable aroma compounds by different strains must be one of the main objectives in the selection of industrial yeasts for the beverage and food industry. In order to overcome the variability in the composition of grape juices, we have used a chemically defined model medium for studying yeast physiological behavior and metabolite production in response to nitrogen supplementation so as to identify an appropriate yeast assimilable nitrogen level for strain differentiation. At low initial nitrogen concentrations, strain KU1 produced higher quantities of esters and fatty acids whereas M522 produced higher concentrations of isoacids, ,-butyrolactone, higher alcohols and 3-methylthio-1-propanol. We propose that although strains KU1 and M522 have a similar nitrogen consumption profile, they represent useful models for the chemical characterization of wine strains in relation to wine quality. The differential production of aroma compounds by the two strains is discussed in relation to their capacity for nitrogen usage and their impact on winemaking. The results obtained here will help to develop targeted metabolic footprinting methods for the discrimination of industrial yeasts. [source]


    Ordering a Profession: Swedish Nurses Encounter New Public Management Reforms

    FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY & MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2003
    Maria Blomgren
    This article deals with professional responses to and handling of New Public Management reforms in the context of Swedish health care. The focus is on Swedish nurses, and the argument is that the extent to which a profession is heterogeneous and embraces a variety of ordering processes explains differing, and even contradictory, responses within a single profession. The paper shows that the ordering processes within the Swedish nursing profession provided a wide variety of conditions for nurses' encounter with the reforms. Overall, the transformations brought about by the New Public Management reforms aligned more easily with the process of ordering nurses into administrative leaders than with the process of ordering nurses into experts in caring. [source]


    Trouble on the reef: the imperative for managing vulnerable and valuable fisheries

    FISH AND FISHERIES, Issue 3 2005
    Yvonne Sadovy
    Abstract Reef fishes are significant socially, nutritionally and economically, yet biologically they are vulnerable to both over-exploitation and degradation of their habitat. Their importance in the tropics for living conditions, human health, food security and economic development is enormous, with millions of people and hundreds of thousands of communities directly dependent, and many more indirectly so. Reef fish fisheries are also critical safety valves in times of economic or social hardship or disturbance, and are more efficient, less wasteful and support far more livelihoods per tonne produced than industrial scale fisheries. Yet, relative to other fisheries globally, those associated with coral reefs are under-managed, under-funded, under-monitored, and as a consequence, poorly understood or little regarded by national governments. Even among non-governmental organizations, which are increasingly active in tropical marine issues, there is typically little focus on reef-associated resources, the interest being more on biodiversity per se or protection of coral reef habitat. This essay explores the background and history to this situation, examines fishery trends over the last 30 years, and charts a possible way forward given the current realities of funding, capacity, development patterns and scientific understanding of coral reef ecosystems. The luxury live reef food-fish trade is used throughout as a case study because it exemplifies many of the problems and challenges of attaining sustainable use of coral reef-associated resources. The thesis developed is that sustaining reef fish fisheries and conserving biodiversity can be complementary, rather than contradictory, in terms of yield from reef systems. I identify changes in perspectives needed to move forward, suggest that we must be cautious of ,fashionable' solutions or apparent ,quick fixes', and argue that fundamental decisions must be made concerning the short and long-term values of coral reef-associated resources, particularly fish, for food and cash and regarding alternative sources of protein. Not to address the problems will inevitably lead to growing poverty, hardship and social unrest in many areas. [source]


    Realism, Prediction, and Foreign Policy

    FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS, Issue 3 2009
    Samuel Barkin
    Attempts by some contemporary realists to both claim that international politics are objectively predictable and at the same time prescribe particular foreign policies cannot hold together logically, because they are internally contradictory. The core argument of this article is that these attempts not only fail to fulfill their goal, but that the attempt to be scientific, to see the world as predictable, is ontologically incompatible with the core insight of classical realism, that we must see the world as it is, rather than as we want it to be. There are two ramifications of this observation for a realism that is not internally contradictory. The first is that a prescriptive realism must be a theory of foreign policy, not a theory of systems structure. And the second is that a realism that works as a theory of foreign policy prediction needs to be reflexive, needs to examine its own assumptions and biases as an integral part of the process of studying international politics. [source]


    Combined measurements of egg fatty acids and stable isotopes as indicators of feeding ecology in lake-dwelling birds

    FRESHWATER BIOLOGY, Issue 9 2009
    FRANCISCO RAMÍREZ
    Summary 1.,We examined whether egg fatty acid (FA) profiles and stable isotopes (SIA) could be used in a comparative way to infer the diet of two aquatic bird species with contrasting feeding habits: a surface forager, the pheasant-tailed jacana (Hydrophasianus chirurgus), and a pursuit-diving forager, the little cormorant (Phalacrocorax niger), at Haleji Lake (Pakistan). 2.,The species differed markedly in the overall percentage of saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Moreover, among jacanas, two groups of birds had relatively high or low concentrations of long-chain essential PUFAs (such as 18:2 n-6 and 20:4 n-6), suggesting differing contributions from animal prey and plant material. 3.,These trophic differences were corroborated by ,15N values which indicated both a higher trophic position in cormorants relative to jacanas, and differences in trophic position for the two groups of jacanas. In this latter species ,13C values in both groups also pointed to differing diets, involving mainly grazing plants or a contribution from animal resources (aquatic invertebrates or insects). 4.,Both lower values of ,13C and higher percentages of 18:1 n-7 detected in little cormorants may indicate the influence of the anoxic water, typical of a freshwater system densely covered by macrophytes. 5.,These results indicate how both biomarkers offer complementary information in studies of feeding ecology, refining interpretations of trophic pathways which are usually based on FA or SIA alone. Comparisons of FA profiles and SIA among species also proved to be a reliable approach for inferring the diet of species for which information is scarce or contradictory, as is the case for the pheasant-tailed jacana. [source]


    Modification of the diel vertical migration of Bythotrephes longimanus by the cold-water planktivore, Coregonus artedi

    FRESHWATER BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2008
    JOELLE D. YOUNG
    Summary 1. The weak diel vertical migration observed in the large cladoceran Bythotrephes longimanus seems contradictory to the predator-avoidance hypothesis that predicts large zooplankton should have long migration amplitudes. However, cold-water planktivores, especially Coregonus spp., are a main source of mortality for Bythotrephes and hence a deeper migration would result in a greater overlap with these hypolimnetic planktivores. We hypothesized that Coregonus artedi (cisco) modifies the normal vertical migration pattern of Bythotrephes, such that the latter stays higher in the water column during the day and thus migrates less extremely at night. 2. The vertical distribution of Bythotrephes during the day was determined from single visits to six lakes in Ontario, Canada, all of which contain warm-water, epilimnetic planktivores but differing in whether they contain cisco. One lake of each fish type was sampled day and night every 2,3 weeks over the ice-free season to examine daytime depths and migration amplitude. 3. The vertical migration of Bythotrephes differed in the presence and absence of cisco. In the lakes with cisco, there were significantly fewer Bythotrephes in the hypolimnion and they were higher in the water column during the day. Migration amplitude was smaller in the cisco than in the non-cisco lake. These observations were not attributable to differences in physical factors, and, although not conclusively attributable to cisco, are consistent with an effect of cisco. 4. We suggest that diurnal depth selection by Bythotrephes in lakes containing cisco is a trade-off between the risk of predation by warm- versus cold-water predators, balanced by the benefits of increased temperature and feeding rates near the surface. Even in lakes without cisco, however, the vertical migration of Bythotrephes was less than expected, suggesting that diurnal depth selection is a balance between the risk from warm-water planktivores and access to sufficient light to feed effectively. [source]


    Doing Gender in Academic Education: The Paradox of Visibility

    GENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 4 2009
    Marieke Van Den Brink
    Recent contributions in the field of gender and organization point to the notion of paradox to unveil the persistence of gender inequality in organizations. This article seeks to contribute to this growing body of knowledge. We used the notion of paradox to reveal the processes of doing gender at an earth science department of a Dutch university in order to find out whether gender segregation in academic and professional careers has already started during academic education. We focused on the study choices of female students in earth sciences and discovered the paradox of visibility, which enabled us to show the contradictory and ambiguous nature of how gender is done at this department. In this article we discuss the relationship between doing gender and paradox on a theoretical as well as an empirical level. We argue that paradoxes could be very useful when analysing doing gender in organizations, because paradoxes focus on the social process in which individual agency and social structures come together. We even suggest that paradoxes might help us to disrupt the hierarchical nature of the gender binary, because they allow for a constant reflection on ambiguity and contradictions in theorizing as well as in practice. [source]


    Exploring the Gaps between Meanings and Practices of Gender Equity in a Sport Organization

    GENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 3 2007
    Larena Hoeber
    This article analyses the explanations organizational members used to make sense of the meanings and practices of gender equity. Studying gender equity as an organizational value provided a way of understanding how gender inequity is perpetuated and embedded in the culture of an organization. This study was informed by post-structuralist feminist theory as it provided a lens for understanding and critiquing the local meanings and production of gendered knowledge, and encouraged discussion of transforming meanings and practices. This study was situated in a Canadian university athletic department in which gender equity was an espoused organizational value, but gender inequities were evident. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with administrators, coaches and athletes, observations of practices and competitions, and the analysis of relevant documents. These data were coded and categorized using Atlas.ti. Respondents' explanations for the gap between what was espoused and what was enacted centred on two dominant, but contradictory, themes: a denial of gender inequities and a rationalization of gender inequities. These themes suggested respondents often understood inequities as expected, natural, or normal. [source]


    Brain Apparent Water Diffusion Coefficient Magnetic Resonance Image During a Prolonged Visual Aura

    HEADACHE, Issue 6 2010
    Robert Belvís MD
    (Headache 2010;50:1045-1049) Background., Reversible changes in brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) weighted in diffusion-weighted images (DWI) and apparent water diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps have been reported in acute stroke, epilepsy, eclampsia, and hypoglycemia, but they are contradictory regarding to migraine aura. Objective., A 41-year-old woman with known basilar migraine for 5 years consulted about a persistent visual aura (visual snow phenomenon) plus bilateral paresthesias in the extremities for 4 days. The headache was treated with success with 10 mg of wafer rizatriptan and 600 mg of ibuprophen. Methods., The neurologic and ophthalmologic examination were normal. An urgent brain MRI detected no lesions in T1, T2, fluid-attenuated inversion recovery, and DWI, but an abnormal signal appeared in the left occipital lobe in ADC and (r)ADC maps. The brain MRI angiography, carotid ultrasound study, transesophageal echocardiography, 24-hour cardiac Holter monitoring, and thrombophilia study were normal. Results., A new brain MRI 8 days after did not show any previous lesion in the same sequences. Conclusions., We present a patient with migraine and transitory abnormal signals in the ADC map of an occipital region during persistent visual aura. The clinical-radiological relationship is congruent. Some similar cases have showed these MRI signals during the aura, suggesting cytotoxic edema, without ischemic lesions in the MRI controls. Theses ADC images probably appear in complex auras. [source]