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Destruction
Kinds of Destruction Terms modified by Destruction Selected AbstractsVALIDATION OF PATHOGEN DESTRUCTION DURING MANUFACTURE OF A MEAT-BASED POTATO SNACK (CHIPAROO)JOURNAL OF FOOD PROCESSING AND PRESERVATION, Issue 6 2003S. J. KIERAS ABSTRACT A Chiparoo is a comminuted rabbit and sweet potato dehydrated snack chip manufactured using a process suitable for underdeveloped regions of the world. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of the Chiparoo manufacturing process to adequately deliver 5 log reductions in Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella typhimurium, and Staphylococcus aureus per gram of food product. These four pathogens were inoculated into regular (pH , 6.0) and lime juice added (pH , 5.0) formulations of rabbit and sweet potato Chiparoos. They were inoculated as a cocktail of four microorganisms at concentrations of approximately 106/g of each pathogen. Individual inoculations of each pathogen at the same concentration (106/g) were also prepared. After inoculation, the product was held for 5 h at 37C, to simulate the maximum hold time in a sub-Saharan Africa manufacturing facility, then dehydrated at 55C (+/- 5C) for 9 h. Samples of the product were taken during the hold and dehydration steps, decimally diluted and plated on the appropriate enumeration medium. The regular formulation (pH , 6.0) did not achieve the required 5 log reduction of each of the four pathogens, while the lime juice added formulation (pH , 5.0) achieved the desired minimum 5 log reduction for each of the four foodborne pathogens tested. [source] POROSITY DESTRUCTION IN CARBONATE PLATFORMSJOURNAL OF PETROLEUM GEOLOGY, Issue 1 2006S. N. Ehrenberg The important thing to understand about carbonate diagenesis is not how porosity is created, but how it is destroyed. Detailed core observations from two deeply-buried carbonate platform successions (the Finnmark platform, offshore north Norway; and the Khuff Formation, offshore Iran) show that in both cases most vertical porosity variation can be accounted for by only two or three factors, namely: (1) stylolite frequency, (2) proportion of argillaceous beds, and (3) anhydrite cement. The spatial distribution of these factors is determined by the depositional distribution of clay minerals (important for localizing chemical compaction) and the occurrence of hypersaline depositional conditions and associated brine reflux (important for localizing anhydrite precipitation and dolomitisation). However, the intensity of chemical compaction and consequent porosity loss in adjacent beds by carbonate cementation also depend upon thermal exposure (temperature as a function of time). Evidence from the Finnmark platform and other examples indicate that the stratigraphic distribution of early-formed dolomite is also important for porosity preservation during burial, but this factor is not apparent in the Khuff dataset. Insofar as the Finnmark and Khuff platforms can be regarded as representative of carbonate reservoirs in general, recognition of the above porosity-controlling factors may provide the basis for general models predicting carbonate reservoir potential both locally (reservoir-model scale) and regionally (exploration-scale). Distributions of clay, anhydrite, and dolomitization should be predictable from stratigraphic architecture, whereas variations in thermal exposure can be mapped from basin analysis. In the present examples at least, factors that do not need to be considered include eogenetic carbonate cementation and dissolution, depositional facies (other than aspects related to clay and anhydrite content), and mesogenetic leaching to create late secondary porosity. [source] TOMBS FOR THE DEAD, MONUMENTS TO ETERNITY: THE DELIBERATE DESTRUCTION OF MEGALITHIC GRAVES BY FIRE IN THE INTERIOR HIGHLANDS OF IBERIA (SORIA PROVINCE, SPAIN)OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 3 2010MANUEL A. ROJO-GUERRA Summary An interpretation of the features surrounding the complex and deliberate closure ritual in several collective Middle Neolithic tombs of the Ambrona Valley (Soria) is offered, where fire and quicklime played a major role in the rituals. The problems involved in the excavation and the understanding of this complex burial evidence are examined. The roles they might have played in the context of the important social and economic transformations of the local Neolithic groups around the end of the fourth millennium cal BC are also analysed. It is argued that the burial rituals tried to reinforce group solidarity at a time when the community was beginning to fragment, as the economic systems began to yield a surplus production whose management would have altered political structures. [source] Spatial Tests of the Pesticide Drift, Habitat Destruction, UV-B, and Climate-Change Hypotheses for California Amphibian DeclinesCONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Issue 6 2002Carlos Davidson In California, the transport and deposition of pesticides from the agriculturally intensive Central Valley to the adjacent Sierra Nevada is well documented, and pesticides have been found in the bodies of Sierra frogs. Pesticides are therefore a plausible cause of declines, but to date no direct links have been found between pesticides and actual amphibian population declines. Using a geographic information system, we constructed maps of the spatial pattern of declines for eight declining California amphibian taxa, and compared the observed patterns of decline to those predicted by hypotheses of wind-borne pesticides, habitat destruction, ultraviolet radiation, and climate change. In four species, we found a strong positive association between declines and the amount of upwind agricultural land use, suggesting that wind-borne pesticides may be an important factor in declines. For two other species, declines were strongly associated with local urban and agricultural land use, consistent with the habitat-destruction hypothesis. The patterns of decline were not consistent with either the ultraviolet radiation or climate-change hypotheses for any of the species we examined. Resumen: Por mucho tiempo se ha sugerido que los pesticidas transportados por el viento son una causa de la declinación de anfibios en áreas sin destrucción de hábitat evidente. En California, el transporte y depósito de pesticidas provenientes del Valle Central, donde se practica la agricultura intensiva, hacia la Sierra Nevada adyacente está bien documentado y se han encontrado pesticidas en el cuerpo de ranas de la Sierra. Por lo tanto, los pesticidas son una causa verosímil de las declinaciones, pero a la fecha no se han encontrado relaciones directas entre los pesticidas y la declinación de anfibios. Construimos mapas de sistemas de información geográfica del patrón espacial de las declinaciones de ocho taxones de anfibios de California, y comparamos los patrones de declinación observados con los esperados por las hipótesis de pesticidas transportados por el viento, la destrucción del hábitat, la radiación ultravioleta y el cambio climático. En cuatro especies, encontramos una fuerte asociación positiva entre las declinaciones y la cantidad de tierras de uso agrícola en dirección contraria a los vientos, lo que sugiere que los pesticidas transportados por el viento pueden ser un factor importante en las declinaciones. Para otras dos especies, las declinaciones se asociaron contundentemente con el uso del suelo urbano y agrícola, lo cual es consistente con la hipótesis de la destrucción del hábitat. Los patrones de declinación no fueron consistentes con la hipótesis de la radiación ultravioleta ni la de cambio climático para ninguna de las especies examinadas. [source] Defining Leadership: A Tale of Three Texts and of Creative DestructionCREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2010Tudor Rickards No abstract is available for this article. [source] Cryolipolysis for Noninvasive Fat Cell Destruction: Initial Results from a Pig ModelDERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 10 2009BRIAN ZELICKSON MD BACKGROUND Liposuction is one of the most frequently performed cosmetic procedures in the United States, but its cost and downtime has led to the development of noninvasive approaches for adipose tissue reduction. OBJECTIVE To determine whether noninvasive controlled and selective destruction of fat cells (Cryolipolysis) can selectively damage subcutaneous fat without causing damage to the overlying skin or rise in lipid levels. METHODS Three Yucatan pigs underwent Cryolipolysis at 22 sites: 20 at cooling intensity factor (CIF) index 24.5 (,43.8 mW/cm2), one at CIF 24.9 (,44.7 mW/cm2), and one at CIF 25.4 (,45.6 mW/cm2). Treated areas were evaluated using photography, ultrasound, and gross and microscopic pathology. Lipids were at various times points. One additional pig underwent Cryolipolysis at various days before euthanasia. RESULTS The treatments resulted in a significant reduction in the superficial fat layer without damage to the overlying skin. An inflammatory response triggered by cold-induced apoptosis of adipocytes preceded the reduction in the fat layer. Evaluation of lipids over a 3-month period following treatment demonstrated that cholesterol and triglyceride values remained normal. CONCLUSIONS Cryolipolysis is worthy of further study because it has been shown to significantly decrease subcutaneous fat and change body contour without causing damage to the overlying skin and surrounding structures or deleterious changes in blood lipids. [source] Coping Strategies Developed as a Result of Social Structure and Conflict: Kosovo in the 1990sDISASTERS, Issue 2 2000Kate Ogden The end of 1989 brought with it political and economic decisions which resulted in Kosovo being stripped of its autonomy and the Albanian population being expelled from their jobs. These facts combined with ethnic tensions created a decade of conflict and oppression affecting hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. Thousands of Kosovars moved overseas to seek work to support families at home, altering the way of life of the population of Kosovo irredeemably. The loss of income had serious repercussions on food security throughout the 1990s; possibilities of purchasing food were diminished, control on goods in 1998 reduced availability of foodstuffs, conflict affected accessibility to markets and shops and consequently food intake and nutritional status was compromised. The most vulnerable were those who had no family members overseas. Mass displacement of population due to ethnic cleansing during the war of spring 1999, further jeopardised food security status. Destruction at this time rendered large parts of Kosovo useless and resulted in a shift in the determinant of vulnerability in the post-war period: destruction of houses, land, livestock and agricultural products as well as loss of family members, became a far more pertinent indicator of food insecurity. The strong and clear links between conflict, socio-economic issues and food security are highlighted and discussed in this paper. [source] Mineral surfaces and soil organic matterEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2003K. Kaiser Summary The organic carbon content of soil is positively related to the specific surface area (SSA), but large amounts of organic matter in soil result in reduced SSA as determined by applying the Brunauer,Emmett,Teller (BET) equation to the adsorption of N2. To elucidate some of the controlling mechanisms of this relation, we determined the SSA and the enthalpy of N2 adsorption of separates with a density > 1.6 g cm,3 from 196 mineral horizons of forest soils before and after removal of organic matter with NaOCl. Likewise, we investigated these characteristics before and after sorption of increasing amounts of organic matter to four mineral soil samples, oxides (amorphous Al(OH)3, gibbsite, ferrihydrite, goethite, haematite), and phyllosilicates (kaolinite, illite). Sorption of organic matter reduced the SSA, depending on the amount sorbed and the type of mineral. The reduction in SSA decreased at larger organic matter loadings. The SSA of the mineral soils was positively related to the content of Fe oxyhydroxides and negatively related to the content of organic C. The strong reduction in SSA at small loadings was due primarily to the decrease in the micropores to which N2 was accessible. This suggests preferential sorption of organic matter at reactive sites in or at the mouths of micropores during the initial sorption and attachment to less reactive sites at increasing loadings. The exponential decrease of the heat of gas adsorption with the surface loading points also to a filling or clogging of micropores at early stages of organic matter accumulation. Desorption induced a small recovery of the total SSA but not of the micropore surface area. Destruction of organic matter increased the SSA of all soil samples. The SSA of the uncovered mineral matrix related strongly to the amounts of Fe oxyhydroxides and the clay. Normalized to C removed, the increase in SSA was small in topsoils and illuvial horizons of Podzols rich in C and large for the subsoils containing little C. This suggests that micropores preferentially associate with organic matter, especially at small loadings. The coverage of the surface of the soil mineral matrix as calculated from the SSA before and after destruction of organic matter was correlated only with depth, and the relation appeared to be linear. We conclude that mineralogy is the primary control of the relation between surface area and sorption of organic matter within same soil compartments (i.e. horizons). But at the scale of complete profiles, the surface accumulation and stabilization of organic matter is additionally determined by its input. [source] Archaeological evidence for destructive earthquakes in Sicily between 400 B.C. and A.D. 600GEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 2 2009Carla Bottari A systematic archaeoseismological study indicates that at least three earthquakes occurred between 400 B.C. and A.D. 600, causing destruction to numerous ancient monuments in Sicily. Evidence for these earthquakes comes from the collapse style of buildings (toppled walls, column drums in a domino-style arrangement, directional collapses, etc.), and the exclusion of other likely causes for such effects. Dating of inferred earthquakes is based on coins (accurate to within 5,10 years), pottery (accurate to within 50,200 years), and other artifacts. The oldest documented earthquake occurred between 370 and 300 B.C. and caused the collapse of two Greek temples in Selinunte. This otherwise poorly documented event was probably also the cause of extensive destruction in northeastern Sicily in the first century A.D. Destruction of some sites may be assigned to an earthquake that occurred between 360 and 374 and correlates with the A.D. 365 seismic sequence known from historical sources. This study covers a wider region and provides a more precise dating of earthquakes than previous studies. Although it focuses on a certain period (4th,3rd centuries B.C., 4th,7th centuries A.D.), it indicates that the period before A.D. 1000 is not a period of seismic quiescence in Sicily as was previously believed, but to a period characterized by strong and destructive earthquakes. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Neo-Liberalism as Creative DestructionGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2006David Harvey Abstract Neoliberalization has swept across the world like a vast tidal wave of institutional reform and discursive adjustment, entailing much destruction, not only of prior institutional frameworks and powers, but also of divisions of labor, social relations, welfare provisions, technological mixes, ways of life, attachments to the land, habits of the heart, ways of thought, and the like. To turn the neoliberal rhetoric against itself, we may reasonably ask: in whose particular interests is it that the state take a neoliberal stance and in what ways have these particular interests used neoliberalism to benefit themselves rather than, as is claimed, everyone, everywhere? Neoliberalism has spawned a swath of oppositional movements. The more clearly oppositional movements recognize that their central objective must be to confront the class power that has been so effectively restored under neoliberalization, the more they will likely themselves cohere. [source] Bread, Cheese and Genocide: Imagining the Destruction of Peoples in Medieval Western EuropeHISTORY, Issue 307 2007LEN SCALES Western European society in the middle ages is generally perceived as lying, in its modes of thought and action, far remote from those acts of mass ethnic destruction which have been a recurrent element in world history since the early twentieth century. Yet medieval Europeans too were capable of envisaging the violent obliteration of peoples. Indeed, the view that such acts had occurred in times past and were liable to occur again was deeply embedded in medieval thought and assumption. For some commentators, the destruction of certain peoples was inseparable from the making of others, an essential motor of historical change, underpinned by biblical narratives of divine election and condemnation. Such notions constituted a matrix within which medieval writers interpreted real acts of social and political violence, the scale and the ethnic foundations of which they were thus naturally inclined to inflate. Nevertheless, their belief in the recurrent historical reality of ethnic destruction was, in their own terms, well founded , although medieval conceptions of what constituted the undoing of peoples were broader than most modern definitions of ,genocide'. By the later middle ages, moreover, government was increasingly perceived , not without justification , as a powerful agent for remaking the ethnic map. [source] Do voles make agricultural habitat attractive to Montagu's Harrier Circus pygargus?IBIS, Issue 3 2007BEN J. KOKS Loss and degradation of habitat threatens many bird populations. Recent rural land-use changes in the Netherlands have led to a shift in habitat use by breeding Montagu's Harriers Circus pygargus. Since the 1990s, unprecedented numbers of this species have bred in farmland compared with numbers in natural habitat. Destruction of nests by agricultural operations, however, compromises breeding success. Between 1992 and 2005, the number of breeding pairs in the northeastern Netherlands was positively, though weakly, correlated with previous-year estimated abundance of voles, mostly Microtus arvalis. In good vole years, the onset of laying was earlier and mean clutch size was larger. Vole abundance was relatively higher in set-aside land and in high and dense vegetation. We suggest that agri-environmental schemes aimed at increasing the availability of voles in agricultural breeding areas may be an effective management tool for the conservation of Montagu's Harriers in the northeastern Netherlands. [source] A Catastrophic Destruction of African Forests about 2,500 Years Ago Still Exerts a Major Influence on Present Vegetation FormationsIDS BULLETIN, Issue 1 2002Jean Maley First page of article [source] Destruction of microstructure in archaeological bone: a case study from PortugalINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OSTEOARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 6 2001Mary Jackes Abstract Sampling of archaeological human bone may not be justified, contrary to former high expectations regarding adult age assessment based on histomorphometry. The alterations in buried bone as a result of bacterial action are readily visible in the scanning electron microscope (SEM). An understanding of the chemical and structural changes to cortical bone requires work at the level of a few microns. This paper reports on problems encountered during analyses of samples of human bone from Mesolithic (ca. 8000 calbp) shell midden sites at Muge in central Portugal, and the methods used to try and overcome these problems. We believe we have shown that these Mesolithic bones are partly comprised of bacterially reprecipitated mineral, which has had collagen removed, with consequent obliteration of bone microstructure. We conclude that microbial destruction of the structure of archaeological bone can be a serious impediment to analysis of the characteristics of the population represented by those skeletal remains. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Investigating the Dimensionality of Counterproductive Work BehaviorINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SELECTION AND ASSESSMENT, Issue 1 2003Melissa L. Gruys The study investigated the dimensionality of counterproductive work behavior (CWB) by examining the relationships between various counterproductive behaviors. Utilizing a university alumni sample (N = 343), data was collected through both self,report and direct judgments of the likelihood of co,occurrence. Eleven categories of CWB were examined: (1) Theft and Related Behavior; (2) Destruction of Property; (3) Misuse of Information; (4) Misuse of Time and Resources; (5) Unsafe Behavior; (6) Poor Attendance; (7) Poor Quality Work; (8) Alcohol Use; (9) Drug Use; (10) Inappropriate Verbal Actions; and (11) Inappropriate Physical Actions. CWB items and categories were generally positively related. Multidimensional scaling analysis suggests that the CWB categories vary on two dimensions: an Interpersonal,Organizational dimension and a Task Relevance dimension. [source] Nonstate Actors, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass DestructionINTERNATIONAL STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 1 2005Andrew Blum First page of article [source] Incumbency and R&D Incentives: Licensing the Gale of Creative DestructionJOURNAL OF ECONOMICS & MANAGEMENT STRATEGY, Issue 4 2000Joshua S. Cans This paper analyzes the relationship between incumbency and R&D incentives in the context of a model of technological competition in which technologically successful entrants are able to license their innovation to (or be acquired by) an incumbent. That such a sale should take place is natural, since postinnovation monopoly profits are greater than the sum of duopoly profits. We identify three key findings about how innovative activity is shaped by licensing. First, since an incumbent's threat to engage in imitative R&D during negotiations increases its bargaining power, there is a purely strategic incentive for incumbents to develop an R&D capability. Second, incumbents research more intensively than entrants as long as (and only if) their willingness to pay for the innovation exceeds that of the entrant, a condition that depends critically on the expected licensing fee. Third, when the expected licensing fee is sufficiently low, the incumbent considers entrant R&D a strategic substitute for in-house research. This prediction about the market for ideas stands in contrast to predictions of strategic complementarity in patent races where licensing is not allowed. [source] Nutritional Quality of Drum-processed and Extruded Composite Supplementary FoodsJOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE, Issue 2 2005Theobald C.E. Mosha ABSTRACT: This study was conducted to evaluate the nutritional quality of ready-to-eat composite foods intended for supplementary feeding of preschool age children in Tanzania. Four supplementary foods, namely, corn-bean-sardine meal (CBSM), bean meal (BM), sorghum-bean-sardine meal (SBSM), and rice-bean-sardine meal (RBSM) were formulated according to the FAO/WHO/UNU guidelines. The food mixtures were extruded, drum-processed, and cooked conventionally in the traditional way. Cooking doneness was evaluated by percent starch gelatinization and residual urease activity; biological qualities,true protein digestibility and growth performance,were evaluated using Sprague Dawley weanling rats. Efficiency in destroying phytohemagglutinins and the antinutritional factors, trypsin, chymotrypsin, and ,-amylase inhibitors, were also evaluated. Results of the study showed that starch gelatinization and residual urease activity were not significantly different (P > 0.05) between the extruded and drum-processed diets. Relative to conventional cooking, starch gelatinization was 95% to 100% in extruded and 90% to 100% in drum-processed products. Inactivation of urease activity ranged from 93% to 100% in extruded and 83% to 100% in drum-processed diets. The true protein digestibilities were significantly (P, 0.05) higher when extruded foods, compared with drum-processed and conventionally cooked foods, were fed to experimental animals. Animals fed extruded products gained more weight relative to those fed drum-processed and conventionally cooked foods. Destruction of phytohemagglutinins ranged between 91% to 97% in extruded and between 90% to 95% in the conventionally cooked and drum-processed foods. Extrusion, drum processing, and conventional cooking also resulted in significant destruction of the antinutritional factors trypsin, chymotrypsin, and a-amylase inhibitors. These results suggest that extrusion and drum processing of cereal-bean-sardine composite foods result in products meeting the required nutritional quality. [source] A classification of computer security incidents based on reported attack dataJOURNAL OF INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND OFFENDER PROFILING, Issue 2 2005Maria Kjaerland Abstract Previous studies of computer criminals have attempted to differentiate between offenders, but have not used data from the actual attacks. Drawing on theories from investigative psychology as well as information security, the current study differentiates 2755 computer security incidents using information about Method of Operation (MO), Impact, and Source Sector from reported attacks. Multivariate statistical analyses were applied on the data-matrix of 22 variables and showed the co-occurrences of various aspects of computer security incidents. A radex structure emerged where the high frequency variables were positioned in the centre of the data-plot. Based on a previously developed taxonomy of cyber intrusions, the results of the analysis showed that it was possible to draw inferences about the less informative category of Objective, from information about Attacker, Tools, Access, and Results. By applying the division-lines indicating the Objectives of Challenge/Status, Destruction, Political Gain and Financial Gain on the SSA-plot, it was shown how the taxonomies could be further developed by taking into account the relationships between the categories. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Measuring Knowledge Stocks: A Process of Creative DestructionKYKLOS INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, Issue 3 2005Jürgen Bitzer Summary This paper proposes a new method for constructing R&D capital stocks developed to avoid the common assumption of a constant rate of knowledge depreciation, which implies wear and tear of knowledge. The method models the development of R&D capital stocks as a process of creative destruction linking the depreciation of knowledge to the emergence of new knowledge. A first empirical assessment of the new method , measuring the influence of R&D capital stocks on production in the manufacturing sectors of 12 OECD countries , produces plausible and robust results. [source] The role of the mineral component in surface stabilization processes of a disturbed desert sandy surfaceLAND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2002A. Yair Abstract The stabilization of sandy and loamy surfaces in semiarid and arid areas by topsoil crusts protecting the soil against wind or runoff erosion is well known. Destruction of such crusts, often by overgrazing, can enhance erosion and desertification. Crust recovery does not depend purely on biotic components of the crust and vegetation. Mineral components in the initial surface stabilization process are often overlooked. The present study focuses on the relative importance of the biotic and mineral components in the process of topsoil crust recovery in a sandy desert area located in the northwestern Negev Desert of Israel. Observations of the initial crust and of the disturbed surface, in the field and under the scanning electron microscope, showed that the mineral components of the crust recovered more quickly than its biotic elements. The implications for the rehabilitation of the disturbed ecosystem are discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] An elementary model for the dust cycle in galaxiesMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 1 2001M.G. Edmunds We give an elementary model for the evolution of dust in galaxies, based on abundance arguments. The model takes account of grain core production in both supernovae and giant stars, and includes mantle growth in the interstellar medium. Destruction of grain cores does not appear to be a dominant effect. We show that a self-consistent picture can be made in which the interstellar dust mass is an approximately constant fraction of the heavy element mass in the interstellar medium. This result is demonstrated to be essentially independent of outflow or inflow of interstellar material. [source] Ethnic Cleansing in the Balkans: Nationalism and the Destruction of Tradition.NATIONS AND NATIONALISM, Issue 3 20032002., Cathie Carmichael, London: Routledge [source] Creative Destruction, Economic Insecurity, Stress, and Epidemic ObesityAMERICAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY, Issue 3 2010Jon D. Wisman The percentage of Americans who are obese has doubled since 1980. Most attempts to explain this "obesity epidemic" have been found inadequate, including the "Big Two" (the increased availability of inexpensive food and the decline of physical exertion). This article explores the possibility that the obesity epidemic is substantially due to growing insecurity, stress, and a sense of powerlessness in modern society where high-sugar and high-fat foods are increasingly omnipresent. Those suffering these conditions may suffer less control over other domains of their lives. Insecurity and stress have been found to increase the desire for high-fat and high-sugar foods. After exploring the evidence of a link between stress and obesity, the increasing pace of capitalism's creative destruction and its generation of greater insecurity and stress are addressed. The article ends with reflections on how epidemic obesity is symptomatic of a social mistake,the seeking of maximum efficiency and economic growth even in societies where the fundamental problem of material security has been solved. I confess I am not charmed with the ideal of life held out by those who think that the normal state of human beings is that of struggling to get on; that the trampling, crushing, elbowing, and treading on each other's heels, which form the existing type of social life, are the most desirable lot of humankind, or anything but the disagreeable symptoms of one of the phases of industrial progress. (Mill 1848: 748) Thus we have been expressly evolved by nature,with all our impulses and deepest instincts,for the purpose of solving the economic problem ["the struggle for subsistence"]. If the economic problem is solved, mankind will be deprived of its traditional purpose . . . Will this be a benefit? If one believes at all in the real values of life, the prospect at least opens up the possibility of benefit. Yet I think with dread of the readjustment of the habits and instincts of the ordinary man, bred into him for countless generations, which he may be asked to discard within a few decades. (Keynes 1932: 366) [source] Job Creation, Job Destruction and the Role of Small Firms: Firm-Level Evidence for the UK,OXFORD BULLETIN OF ECONOMICS & STATISTICS, Issue 5 2010Alexander Hijzen Abstract Evidence on job creation and destruction for the United Kingdom is limited, dated, and refers almost entirely to the manufacturing sector. We use firm-level data from 1997 to 2008 for almost all sectors, including services, and show that firms in the service sector exhibit much higher rates of job creation, but almost exactly the same rates of job destruction as those in manufacturing. ,Small' firms account for a disproportionately large fraction of job creation and destruction relative to their share of employment. Jobs created by small firms are no less likely to persist than those created by large firms. [source] Determination of the Minimum Temperature Required for Selective Photothermal Destruction of Cancer Cells with the Use of Immunotargeted Gold NanoparticlesPHOTOCHEMISTRY & PHOTOBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2006Xiaohua Huang ABSTRACT Laser photothermal therapy of cancer with the use of gold nanoparticles immunotargeted to molecular markers on the cell surface has been shown to he an effective modality to selectively kill cancer cells at much lower laser powers than those needed for healthy cells. To elucidate the minimum light dosimetry required to induce cell death, photothermal destruction of two cancerous cell lines and a noncancerous cell line treated with antiepidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR) antibody-conjugated gold nanoparticles is studied, and a numerical heat transport model is used to estimate the local temperature rise within the cells as a result of the laser heating of the gold nanoparticles. It is found that cell samples with higher nanoparticle loading require a lower incident laser power to achieve a certain temperature rise. Numerically estimated temperatures of 70,80°C achieved by heating the gold particles agree well with the measured threshold temperature for destruction of the cell lines by oven heating and those measured in an earlier nanoshell method. Specific binding of anti-EGFR antibody to cancerous cells overexpressing EGFR selectively increases the gold nanoparticle loading within cancerous cells, thus allowing the cancerous cells to be destroyed at lower laser power thresholds than needed for the noncancerous cells. in addition, photothermal therapy using gold nanoparticles requires lower laser power thresholds than therapies using conventional dyes due to the much higher absorption coefficient of the gold nanoparticles. [source] The Implicit Motives of Terrorist Groups: How the Needs for Affiliation and Power Translate into Death and DestructionPOLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2008Allison G. Smith This study explored the dynamics of terrorism through a quantitative content analysis of documents issued by terrorist groups and nonterrorist comparison groups. Thirteen terrorist groups were matched with comparison groups that shared the same ideologies, and their documents were coded for ingroup affiliation, outgroup affiliation, and power motive imagery. As hypothesized, compared with nonterrorist groups, terrorist groups were significantly higher in ingroup affiliation motive imagery and significantly lower in outgroup affiliation motive imagery in the full sample of documents and in an indicator sample that included only terrorist groups' preterrorism documents. Terrorist groups were significantly higher than comparison groups in power motive imagery in the full sample and marginally significantly higher in power motive imagery in the indicator sample. These results highlight the important role that group dynamics play in terrorist groups. [source] Dynamic of Destruction: Culture and Mass Killing in the First World War , By Alan KramerTHE HISTORIAN, Issue 4 2009Barbara C. Allen No abstract is available for this article. [source] World at Total War: Global Conflict and the Politics of Destruction, 1937,1945 , Edited by Roger Chickering, Stig Förster, and Bernd GreinerTHE HISTORIAN, Issue 2 2007Loyd E. Lee No abstract is available for this article. [source] ORIGINAL RESEARCH,BASIC SCIENCE: Effect of the Destruction of Cells Containing the Serotonin Reuptake Transporter on Urethrogenital ReflexesTHE JOURNAL OF SEXUAL MEDICINE, Issue 2 2007Karla Gravitt BSc ABSTRACT Introduction., The urethrogenital (UG) reflex is an autonomic and somatic response that mimics some of the physiological changes seen during ejaculation. The UG reflex is tonically inhibited by neurons in the ventral medulla, an area containing serotonin neurons. Aim., To examine the effect of lesions of brain neurons containing the serotonin reuptake transporter (SERT) on ejaculatory-like reflexes. Methods., Anti-SERT saporin (80 nL, 1 mM) or saline was injected bilaterally into the ventrolateral medulla of male Sprague,Dawley rats. Ten to 18 days later, animals were deeply anesthetized and the presence of the UG reflex was examined before and after acute spinal cord transection (T9,10). Following the experiment the presence and number of serotonin and norepinephrine containing neurons (using tryptophan hydroxylase and dopamine beta-hydroxylase, respectively) was performed. Main Outcome Measures., The UG reflex and cell counts. Results., In saline-injected controls the UG reflex was not evoked in the anesthetized, intact preparation, indicating the presence of the supraspinal inhibition, as previously reported. Injection of anti-SERT saporin into the ventrolateral medulla allowed the UG reflex to be activated in the intact preparation, thus removed the inhibition. This was associated with a decrease in the number of serotonin neurons in the ventrolateral medulla and raphe. No change in the number of noradrenergic neurons was observed. Conclusion., These studies suggest that ventral medullary neurons containing SERT are involved in the tonic inhibition of the UG reflex. Gravitt K, and Marson L. Effect of the destruction of cells containing the serotonin reuptake transporter on urethrogenital Reflexes. J Sex Med 2007;4:322,331. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||