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Diverse Aspects (diverse + aspect)
Selected AbstractsOn the concept of a universal audit of quality and environmental management systemsCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2002Stanislav Karapetrovic There is a definite trend in industry today toward the integration of internal management systems (MSs), including those for managing quality, environment, health and safety, and social accountability. The standards describing the minimum requirements for such systems have been made largely compatible, but are not yet fully aligned or integrated. Apart from several national standards for integrated quality, environment and safety MSs, the world has yet to see a corresponding and internationally accepted guideline. In contrast, integrative standardization activities in the realm of MS auditing are proceeding in full force, with the introduction of the pioneering ISO 19011 guideline for quality and environmental auditing expected soon. This paper focuses on the concepts, principles and practices of a truly generic audit, applicable for the evaluation of diverse aspects of organizational performance against the criteria stated in MS standards. A universal audit model based on the systems approach and several important questions regarding the compatibility and integration of the current auditing schemes are discussed. These issues include the ability of integrated audits to foster unification of supported MSs, as well as different strategies for the development of a universal audit guideline (UAG) and integration of function-specific audits. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment. [source] Turner syndrome and the evolution of human sexual dimorphismEVOLUTIONARY APPLICATIONS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 3 2008Bernard Crespi Abstract Turner syndrome is caused by loss of all or part of an X chromosome in females. A series of recent studies has characterized phenotypic differences between Turner females retaining the intact maternally inherited versus paternally inherited X chromosome, which have been interpreted as evidence for effects of X-linked imprinted genes. In this study I demonstrate that the differences between Turner females with a maternal X and a paternal X broadly parallel the differences between males and normal females for a large suite of traits, including lipid profile and visceral fat, response to growth hormone, sensorineural hearing loss, congenital heart and kidney malformations, neuroanatomy (sizes of the cerebellum, hippocampus, caudate nuclei and superior temporal gyrus), and aspects of cognition. This pattern indicates that diverse aspects of human sex differences are mediated in part by X-linked genes, via genomic imprinting of such genes, higher rates of mosaicism in Turner females with an intact X chromosome of paternal origin, karyotypic differences between Turner females with a maternal versus paternal X chromosome, or some combination of these phenomena. Determining the relative contributions of genomic imprinting, karyotype and mosaicism to variation in Turner syndrome phenotypes has important implications for both clinical treatment of individuals with this syndrome, and hypotheses for the evolution and development of human sexual dimorphism. [source] Indole as an intercellular signal in microbial communitiesFEMS MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS, Issue 4 2010Jin-Hyung Lee Abstract Bacteria can utilize signal molecules to coordinate their behavior to survive in dynamic multispecies communities. Indole is widespread in the natural environment, as a variety of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria (to date, 85 species) produce large quantities of indole. Although it has been known for over 100 years that many bacteria produce indole, the real biological roles of this molecule are only now beginning to be unveiled. As an intercellular signal molecule, indole controls diverse aspects of bacterial physiology, such as spore formation, plasmid stability, drug resistance, biofilm formation, and virulence in indole-producing bacteria. In contrast, many non-indole-producing bacteria, plants and animals produce diverse oxygenases which may interfere with indole signaling. It appears indole plays an important role in bacterial physiology, ecological balance, and possibly human health. Here we discuss our current knowledge and perspectives on indole signaling. [source] Generation of a germ cell-specific mouse transgenic Cre line, Vasa-Cre,GENESIS: THE JOURNAL OF GENETICS AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 6 2007Teresa Gallardo Abstract Cell type-specific genetic modification using the Cre/loxP system is a powerful tool for genetic analysis of distinct cell lineages. Because of the exquisite specificity of Vasa expression (confined to the germ cell lineage in invertebrate and vertebrate species), we hypothesized that a Vasa promoter-driven transgenic Cre line would prove useful for the germ cell lineage-specific inactivation of genes. Here we describe a transgenic mouse line, Vasa-Cre, where Cre is efficiently and specifically expressed in germ cells. Northern analysis showed that transgene expression was confined to the gonads. Cre-mediated recombination with the Rosa26-lacZ reporter was observed beginning at ,e15, and was >95% efficient in male and female germ cells by birth. Although there was a potent maternal effect with some animals showing more widespread recombination, there was no ectopic activity in most adults. This Vasa-Cre transgenic line should thus prove useful for genetic analysis of diverse aspects of gametogenesis and as a general deletor line. genesis 45:413,417, 2007. Published 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] The New Woman in the New Millennium: Recent Trends in Criticism of New Woman FictionLITERATURE COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 1 2006Ann Heilmann This essay offers an overview of the current state of criticism on New Woman fiction. Starting with a brief survey of the critical perspectives established in the last thirty years of the twentieth century, it moves to a more detailed discussion of three trends since the turn of the millennium. As I argue, critical literature since 2000 has explored the specifically ,feminine' aesthetic of New Woman writers, and scrutinized the racialist and imperialist roots of New Woman thought. The recent move away from an exclusive concentration on white Anglo-American New Women has allowed important new insights into the international, ethnically diverse aspects of this fin-de-siècle and early twentieth-century movement. [source] A review of molecular techniques to type Candida glabrata isolatesMYCOSES, Issue 6 2010S. Abbes Summary Candida glabrata has emerged as a common cause of fungal infection causing mucosal and systemic infections. This yeast is of concern because of its reduced antifungal susceptibility to azole antifungals such as fluconazole. A clear understanding of the epidemiology of Candida infection and colonisation required a reliable typing system for the evaluation of strain relatedness. In this study, we discuss the different molecular approaches for typing C. glabrata isolates. Recent advances in the use of molecular biology-based techniques have enabled investigators to develop typing systems with greater sensitivities. Several molecular genotypic approaches have been developed for fast and accurate identification of C. glabrata in vitro. These techniques have been widely used to study diverse aspects such as nosocomial transmission. Molecular typing of C. glabrata could also provide information on strain variation, such as microvariation and microevolution. [source] Molecular Tools to Study Physcomitrella patensPLANT BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2005W. Frank Abstract: The moss Physcomitrella patens has become a suitable model plant system for the analysis of diverse aspects of modern plant biology. The research strategies have been influenced by the implementation of state-of-the-art cell culture and molecular biology techniques. The forthcoming completion of the Physcomitrella genome sequencing project will generate many open questions, the examination of which will rely on a diverse set of molecular tools. Within this article, we intend to introduce the essential cell culture and molecular biology techniques which have been adopted in recent years to make Physcomitrella amenable to a wide range of genetic analyses. Many research groups have made valuable contributions to improve the methodology for the study of Physcomitrella. We would like to apologise to all colleagues whose important contributions could not be cited within this manuscript. [source] Workers are people too: Societal aspects of occupational health disparities,an ecosocial perspectiveAMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 2 2010Nancy Krieger PhD Abstract Workers are people too. What else is new? This seemingly self-evident proposition, however, takes on new meaning when considering the challenging and deeply important issue of occupational health disparities,the topic that is the focus of 12 articles in this special issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine. In this commentary, I highlight some of the myriad ways that societal determinants of health intertwine with each and every aspect of occupation-related health inequities, as analyzed from an ecosocial perspective. The engagement extends from basic surveillance to etiologic research, from conceptualization and measurement of variables to analysis and interpretation of data, from causal inference to preventive action, and from the political economy of work to the political economy of health. A basic point is that who is employed (or not) in what kinds of jobs, with what kinds of exposures, what kinds of treatment, and what kinds of job stability, benefits, and pay,as well as what evidence exists about these conditions and what action is taken to address them,depends on societal context. At issue are diverse aspects of people's social location within their societies, in relation to their jointly experienced,and embodied,realities of socioeconomic position, race/ethnicity, nationality, nativity, immigration and citizen status, age, gender, and sexuality, among others. Reviewing the papers' findings, I discuss the scientific and real-world action challenges they pose. Recommendations include better conceptualization and measurement of socioeconomic position and race/ethnicity and also use of the health and human rights framework to further the public health mission of ensuring the conditions that enable people,including workers,to live healthy and dignified lives. Am. J. Ind. Med. 53:104,115 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Another Lesson about Public Opinion during the Clinton-Lewinsky ScandalPRESIDENTIAL STUDIES QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2002Stephen Earl Bennett Data from Pew Research Center polls from early February 1998 through late February 1999 show that only about a third of the American public followed media accounts of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal "very closely," which is a facet of public reaction that has been largely neglected. Levels of heed paid to media stories about the scandal affected knowledge about key personalities and facets of the imbroglio. In addition, data show that the amount of attention paid to the news about the scandal resonated with opinions about diverse aspects of the scandal. Students of public opinion need to take the public's relative inattention to the scandal into account. [source] Quality of life among long-term survivors of breast cancer: different types of antecedents predict different classes of outcomesPSYCHO-ONCOLOGY, Issue 9 2006Charles S. Carver Abstract Quality of life (QOL) has many aspects, both in the short-term and in the long-term. Different aspects of QOL may have different types of precursors: demographic, medical, and psychosocial. We examined this possibility in a group of long-term breast cancer survivors. Early-stage breast cancer patients (N=163) who had provided information about medical, demographic, and psychosocial variables during the year after surgery completed a multidimensional measure of QOL 5,13 years later. Initial chemotherapy and higher stage predicted greater financial problems and greater worry about appearance at follow-up. Being partnered at diagnosis predicted many psychosocial benefits at follow-up. Hispanic women reported greater distress and social avoidance at follow-up. Initial trait optimism predicted diverse aspects of better psychosocial QOL at follow-up, but not other aspects of QOL. Thus, different aspects of QOL at long-term follow-up had different antecedents. Overall, psychological outcomes were predicted by psychosocial variables, presence of a partner at diagnosis, and ethnicity. Financial outcomes, in contrast, were predicted by medical variables, which otherwise predicted little about long-term QOL. This divergence among aspects of QOL should receive closer attention in future work. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The neglected sense,olfaction in primate behavior, ecology, and evolutionAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 6 2006Eckhard W. Heymann Abstract This special issue emerged from a symposium held during the 20th Congress of the International Primatological Society in Torino, Italy, in August 2004. The symposium brought together scientists studying several different aspects of olfaction in primates. The topics addressed ranged from the morphology and physiology of the sensory apparatus, the genetics and chemistry of olfactory signals and the use of such signals in primate communication, to a comparative analysis of the role of olfaction in neural evolution. The papers in this issue reflect a surge of interest in diverse aspects of olfaction,an interest that has been stimulated by the more rigorous theoretical approaches and new techniques that have recently become available. This introduction briefly reviews past research on primate olfaction, summarizes the scope of this special issue, and provides a somewhat speculative glimpse of the future. Am. J. Primatol. 68:519,524, 2006.© 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Endosymbiotic origins of sexBIOESSAYS, Issue 5 2004Christopher Bazinet Understanding how complex sexual reproduction arose, and why sexual organisms have been more successful than otherwise similar asexual organisms, is a longstanding problem in evolutionary biology. Within this problem, the potential role of endosymbionts or intracellular pathogens in mediating primitive genetic transfers is a continuing theme. In recent years, several remarkable activities of mitochondria have been observed in the germline cells of complex eukaryotes, and it has been found that bacterial endosymbionts related to mitochondria are capable of manipulating diverse aspects of metazoan gametogenesis. An attempt is made here to rationalize these observations with an endosymbiotic model for the evolutionary origins of sex. It is hypothesized that the contemporary life cycle of germline cells has descended from the life cycle of the endosymbiotic ancestor of the mitochondrion. Through an actin-based motility that drove it from one cell to another, the rickettsial ancestor of mitochondria may have functioned as a primitive transducing particle, the evolutionary progenitor of sperm. BioEssays 26:558,566, 2004. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Amphibian teeth: current knowledge, unanswered questions, and some directions for future researchBIOLOGICAL REVIEWS, Issue 1 2007Tiphaine Davit-Béal Abstract Elucidation of the mechanisms controlling early development and organogenesis is currently progressing in several model species and a new field of research, evolutionary developmental biology, which integrates developmental and comparative approaches, has emerged. Although the expression pattern of many genes during tooth development in mammals is known, data on other lineages are virtually non-existent. Comparison of tooth development, and particularly of gene expression (and function) during tooth morphogenesis and differentiation, in representative species of various vertebrate lineages is a prerequisite to understand what makes one tooth different from another. Amphibians appear to be good candidates for such research for several reasons: tooth structure is similar to that in mammals, teeth are renewed continuously during life ( = polyphyodonty), some species are easy to breed in the laboratory, and a large amount of morphological data are already available on diverse aspects of tooth biology in various species. The aim of this review is to evaluate current knowledge on amphibian teeth, principally concerning tooth development and replacement (including resorption), and changes in morphology and structure during ontogeny and metamorphosis. Throughout this review we highlight important questions which remain to be answered and that could be addressed using comparative morphological studies and molecular techniques. We illustrate several aspects of amphibian tooth biology using data obtained for the caudate Pleurodeles waltl. This salamander has been used extensively in experimental embryology research during the past century and appears to be one of the most favourable amphibian species to use as a model in studies of tooth development. [source] Gene expression profiling of the ageing rat vibrissa follicleBRITISH JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 1 2005C-L. Yang Summary Background, The application of gene expression profiling to the study of chronological ageing has the potential to illuminate the molecular mechanisms underlying a complex and active process. For example, ageing of the skin and its constituent organs has myriad phenotypic consequences, and a better understanding of the means by which these changes arise has important corollaries for intervention strategies. Objectives, We used a transcriptional profiling approach to investigate changes in gene expression associated with ageing of the large vibrissa follicle of the Wistar rat. Methods, Follicle mRNA isolated from male Wistar rats at 1 and 18 months of age was hybridized to Clontech Atlas 1.2 Rat cDNA macroarrays. Confirmation of array results was provided by the use of Northern blotting and immunohistochemistry. Results, Seven transcripts displayed at least a 1·6-fold increase in expression with age, of which APOD (2·5-fold), GSTM2 (2·0-fold) and NPY (1·8-fold) showed the greatest increases. Decreased expression was found in 19 transcripts, most notably in ALOX12 (13·3-fold) and GAP43 (12·6-fold) expression. Conclusions, Follicular ageing is characterized by transcriptional changes associated with diverse aspects of keratinocyte metabolism, proliferation and development. [source] Specific Labeling of Peptidoglycan Precursors as a Tool for Bacterial Cell Wall StudiesCHEMBIOCHEM, Issue 4 2009Vincent van Dam Abstract Wall chart: The predominant component of the bacterial cell wall, peptidoglycan, consists of long alternating stretches of aminosugar subunits interlinked in a large three-dimensional network and is formed from precursors through several cytosolic and membrane-bound steps. The high tolerance of the cell wall synthesis machinery allows for the use of labeled precursor derivatives to study diverse aspects of bacterial cell wall synthesis and interaction with antibiotics. Because of its importance for bacterial cell survival, the bacterial cell wall is an attractive target for new antibiotics in a time of great demand for new antibiotic compounds. Therefore, more knowledge about the diverse processes related to bacterial cell wall synthesis is needed. The cell wall is located on the exterior of the cell and consists mainly of peptidoglycan, a large macromolecule built up from a three-dimensional network of aminosugar strands interlinked with peptide bridges. The subunits of peptidoglycan are synthesized inside the cell before they are transported to the exterior in order to be incorporated into the growing peptidoglycan. The high flexibility of the cell wall synthesis machinery towards unnatural derivatives of these subunits enables research on the bacterial cell wall using labeled compounds. This review highlights the high potential of labeled cell wall precursors in various areas of cell wall research. Labeled precursors can be used in investigating direct cell wall,antibiotic interactions and in cell wall synthesis and localization studies. Moreover, these compounds can provide a powerful tool in the elucidation of the cell wall proteome, the "wallosome," and thus, might provide new targets for antibiotics. [source] Comparative study of early interactions in mother,child dyads and care centre staff,child within the context of Chilean crèchesCHILD: CARE, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2010M. Pía Santelices Abstract Background Bowlby developed the concept of ,caregiver' to refer to significant adults with whom young children interact daily. Not only parents are considered significant caregivers but also the care centre staff where the child attends regularly. Within caregiver,infant interactions, sensitive response on the part of the adult is a key concept in the assessment of the quality of the relationship, as it integrates the experiences and emotions that will influence the attainment of a secure attachment and a favourable emotional, social and cognitive development in the child. Methods This study is a comparative analysis between the dyadic interactions between a child and its principal caregivers in the home and in the crèche; it is based on a group of 185 children between 8 and 24 months old, who attend a crèche regularly. The Care-Index instrument was used to assess interaction between children and adults, analysing sensitive response in the adults and cooperativeness in the children. Results The sensitive response of adults to children was complementary; mothers and primary caregivers showed greater sensitivity in the affective aspects of the interaction, while the care centre staff showed greater sensitivity in the cognitive aspects. The fact that caregivers show significant differences in response sensitivity is consistent with existing studies, as are corresponding significant differences in the children's cooperativeness, which demonstrates that a child could benefit from interacting with adults whose different skills could strengthen diverse aspects of health child development. Conclusions The presence of children in the crèche can be a positive experience in that it favours quality exchanges with the child, developing cognitive aspects of the interaction which are cultivated to a lesser degree by mothers or primary caregivers who principally develop affective aspects. [source] | ||||||||||||||||