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Selected AbstractsBeyond the Black Box of Demography: board processes and task effectiveness within Italian firmsCORPORATE GOVERNANCE, Issue 5 2007Fabio Zona In this paper we analyse boards of directors as workgroups, i.e. groups of people that perform one or more tasks within an organisational context. Building on previous studies, we developed a model that relates group's social-psychological processes to three different board tasks: service, monitoring and networking. We tested our model through a survey on 301 large manufacturing firms in Italy. Our findings support the idea that (a) process variables and, to a limited extent, demographic variables significantly influence board task performance; (b) board processes have a different impact on each specific board task; (c) board task performance varies depending upon firm and industry characteristics. [source] The achievability of sustainable reporting practices in agricultureCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2009Belinda R. Williams Abstract This research investigates the process of change in moving from a domestic accounting standard, AASB 1037, relating to self-generating and regenerating assets (SGARAs) to an international standard, AASB 141. It focuses on the achievement (or nonachievement as it may be) of sustainable reporting practices for these agricultural assets. This paper finds that the transition to AASB 141 has allowed firms the discretion to change how they value their agricultural assets in comparison to the domestic standard. Consistency may have been achieved to a limited extent with the introduction of this financial accounting standard but comparability appears not to have been. Further, there is very limited understanding of the reporting of these assets from a user's perspective. It is concluded that this lack of consistency, comparability and understandability will not help achieve sustainability in the reporting practices of agricultural assets. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Uganda: No More Pro-poor Growth?DEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2005Robert Kappel This article explores changing growth regimes in Uganda, from pro-poor growth in the 1990s to growth without poverty reduction, actually even with a slight increase in poverty, after 2000. Not surprisingly, it finds that good agricultural performance is the key determinant of direct pro-poor growth in the 1990s, while lower agricultural growth is the root cause of the recent increase in poverty. At the same time, after 2000 low agricultural growth appears to have induced important employment shifts out of agriculture, which have dampened the increase in poverty. The article also assesses the indirect form of pro-poor growth by analysing the incidence of public spending and the tax system, and finds that indirect pro-poor growth has been achieved to only a limited extent. [source] 5.2 Ethics, equity and global responsibilities in oral health and diseaseEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF DENTAL EDUCATION, Issue 2002Martin Hobdell The charge of this Section is ethics and global responsibilities in oral health and disease. Oral health is determined by the same factors as those for general health. To a limited extent, the level of oral health care and dental education. The philosophy and organization of the health care system and dental education, therefore, are key determinants of oral health. Dental education has expanded in many countries where there has been an increase in wealth. Unfortunately, there has been no concomitant increase in the number of dental educators. This is a problem throughout the world. This present situation raises certain ethical issues with regard to professional responsibilities. It also raises some important questions for dental education. This Section has chosen to focus its efforts on examining two issues: , ,What can be done within dental schools? , ,What can be done external to dental schools , either individually or collectively? The best practices identified are more akin to goals, as it is recognized that, in a world in which there are enormous variations in economic, environmental, social, and cultural features, a single uniform set of practices is impracticable. The central core value identified is the realization by students, and faculty/teaching staff of the quest of life-long learning against a background of the social and ethical responsibilities of health professionals. The conclusion of the group is that biology is not the sole determinant of health. Understanding the role of social, economic, environmental and other factors in determining health status is critical if greater equity in dental education and care are to be achieved. [source] Union Citizenship,Metaphor or Source of Rights?EUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 1 2001Norbert Reich After nearly ten years of introducing Union Citizenship as a concept into Community law it seems time to draw a preliminary evaluation of its importance in reshaping the legal and social positions of citizens living in the EU, more precisely in its Member States. The balance sheet is however mixed: On the one hand, the prevalent position in legal doctrine seems to be that Union citizenship is merely a derived condition of nationality, while on the other side certain fundamental rights are based on criteria other than citizenship/nationality alone. The European Charter on Fundamental Rights will not overcome this dilemma. This can be shown in conflictual areas which are in the centre of discusion in the paper, namely the (limited!) use of the concept of citizenship to extend existing free movement rights in the new case law of the Court of Justice, the resistance towards granting ,quasi-citizenship' rights to third country nationals lawfully resident in the Union for a longer period of time, and the yet unsolved problem of imposing ,implied duties' based on a doctrine of ,abus de droit' upon citizens paralleling the rights granted to them. As a conclusion the author is of the opinion that the question asked for in the title can be answered in the positive only to a limited extent. Citizenship appears to be a sleeping fairy princess still be be kissed awake by the direct effect of Community law. [source] Hysteresis in Conjugated Polymer Thin Film Transistors Generated by Chain RelaxationADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 6 2010Neng-Jye Yang Abstract The hysteresis phenomenon in a polymer thin film transistor (PTFT) with either poly(3-hexylthiophene), poly(3-dodecylthiophene), or poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene] is investigated over a wide range of temperatures, and found to be generated by the delay in main chain ring distortion with an applied electric field. In the temperature range for side chain relaxation, main chain motion induced by side chain motion already starts such that polarization of the main chain by the applied electric field is permitted but in a limited extent and is not in phase with the variation in electric field. In the main chain relaxation temperature range, the extent of segmental motion increases, which leads to the main chain being more realignable by the applied electric field and thus a reduced hysteresis. After main chain relaxation is complete, the ring can distort more freely and chain segments are able to realign in phase with the applied electric field, which leads to a leveling off of the hysteresis. This investigation shows for first time that the chain relaxation in conjugated polymers is the origin of the hysteresis in PTFT devices. [source] Charge Transfer Excitons in Polymer/Fullerene Blends: The Role of Morphology and Polymer Chain ConformationADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 22 2009Markus Hallermann Abstract Here, it is shown how carrier recombination through charge transfer excitons between conjugated polymers and fullerene molecules is mainly controlled by the intrachain conformation of the polymer, and to a limited extent by the mesoscopic morphology of the blend. This experimental result is obtained by combining near-infrared photoluminescence spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy, which are sensitive to charge transfer exciton emission and morphology, respectively. The photoluminescence intensity of the charge transfer exciton is correlated to the degree of intrachain order of the polymer, highlighting an important aspect for understanding and limiting carrier recombination in organic photovoltaics. [source] Significant activity of a modified ribozyme with N7-deazaguanine at G10.1: the double-metal-ion mechanism of catalysis in reactions catalysed by hammerhead ribozymesGENES TO CELLS, Issue 8 2000Yuka Nakamatsu Background Several reports have appeared recently of experimental evidence for a double-metal-ion mechanism of catalysis in reactions catalysed by hammerhead ribozymes. In one case, hammerhead ribozyme-mediated cleavage was analysed as a function of the concentration of La3+ ions in the presence of a fixed concentration of Mg2+ ions so that the role of metal ions that are directly involved in the cleavage reaction could be monitored. The resultant bell-shaped curve for activation of cleavage was used to support the proposed double-metal-ion mechanism of catalysis. However, other studies have demonstrated that the binding of a metal ion (the most conserved P9 metal ion) to the pro-Rp oxygen (P9 oxygen) of the phosphate moiety of nucleotide A9 and to the N7 of nucleotide G10.1 is critical for efficient catalysis, despite the large distance (,20 Å) between the P9 metal ion and the labile phosphodiester group in the ground state. In fact, it was demonstrated that an added Cd2+ ion binds first to the pro-Rp phosphoryl P9 oxygen but not with the pro-Rp phosphoryl oxygen at the cleavage site. Results In earlier discussions, it was difficult to completely exclude the possibility that La3+ ions might have replaced the P9 metal ion and, as a result, created conditions represented by the bell-shaped curve. In order to clarify this situation, we examined a chemically synthesized hammerhead ribozyme (7-deaza-R34) that included a minimal modification, namely, an N7-deazaguanine residue in place of G10.1. We compared the kinetic properties of this ribozyme with those of the parental ribozyme (R34). Kinetic analysis revealed that, unlike the cases of added Cd2+ ions, the added La3+ ions did not replace the pre-existing P9 metal ion, and that the replacement of N7 by C7 at G10.1 reduced the catalytic activity to a limited extent. This result indicates that the binding of a Mg2+ ion to N7 at G10.1 is catalytically important but not indispensable. Most importantly, 7-deaza-R34 also yielded a bell-shaped curve upon addition of La3+ ions to the reaction mixture. Conclusions Since the data based on our experiments with 7-deaza-R34 are completely free from potential artefacts, due to the binding of a La3+ ion to N7 at G10.1, our results, that 7-deaza-R34 yielded a bell-shaped curve following the addition of La3+ ions to the Mg2+ -background reaction mixture, strongly supports the proposal that a double-metal-ion mechanism is operative in the cleavage reaction which is catalysed by hammerhead ribozymes. [source] Subtle myelin defects in PLP-null mice ,GLIA, Issue 3 2006Jack Rosenbluth Abstract This study explores subtle defects in the myelin of proteolipid protein (PLP)-null mice that could potentially underlie the functional losses and axon damage known to occur in this mutant and in myelin diseases including multiple sclerosis. We have compared PLP-null central nervous system (CNS) myelin with normal myelin using ultrastructural methods designed to emphasize fine differences. In the PLP-null CNS, axons large enough to be myelinated often lack myelin entirely or are surrounded by abnormally thin sheaths. Short stretches of cytoplasm persist in many myelin lamellae. Most strikingly, compaction is incomplete in this mutant as shown by the widespread presence of patent interlamellar spaces of variable width that can be labeled with ferricyanide, acting as an aqueous extracellular tracer. In thinly myelinated fibers, interlamellar spaces are filled across the full width of the sheaths. In thick myelin sheaths, they appear filled irregularly but diffusely. These patent spaces constitute a spiral pathway through which ions and other extracellular agents may penetrate gradually, possibly contributing to the axon damage known to occur in this mutant, especially in thinly myelinated fibers, where the spiral path length is shortest and most consistently labeled. We show also that the "radial component" of myelin is distorted in the mutant ("diagonal component"), extending across the sheaths at 45° instead of 90°. These observations indicate a direct or indirect role for PLP in maintaining myelin compaction along the external surfaces of the lamellae and to a limited extent, along the cytoplasmic surfaces as well and also in maintaining the normal alignment of the radial component. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] A sixteenth-century warrior grave from Uppsala, Sweden: the Battle of Good FridayINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OSTEOARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 1 2005A. KjellströmArticle first published online: 6 SEP 200 Abstract Little is known about the Battle of Good Friday in Uppsala. The historical records are scarce and of limited extent. Moreover, the more spectacular event of the Stockholm Bloodbath has drawn most of the attention from both the contemporary public and later historians. This is why the discovery of a mass grave in the steep slope of Uppsala Castle in 2001 has provoked much interest. An analysis of the osseous material showed that the remains of at least 60 male individuals, mostly between 25,34 years of age, were buried in the excavated area. The demographic profile is largely similar to other European war-related skeletal assemblages of the same era. Sharp force trauma was exhibited primarily on the skulls, with no obvious dominance to either side. The trauma distribution pattern suggests that the battle was not fought face-to-face. Blade wounds concentrated in specific regions imply a standardised technique when delivering the blows. The combination of commingled bones and articulated elements suggests that the individuals were in different stages of skeletonisation when buried. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Survey of quantitative feedback theory (QFT),INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ROBUST AND NONLINEAR CONTROL, Issue 10 2001Isaac Horowitz QFT is an engineering design theory devoted to the practical design of feedback control systems. The foundation of QFT is that feedback is needed in control only when plant (P), parameter and/or disturbance (D) uncertainties (sets ,,={P}, ,,={D}) exceed the acceptable (A) system performance uncertainty (set ,,={A}). The principal properties of QFT are as follows. (1) The amount of feedback needed is tuned to the (,,, ,,, ,,) sets. If ,, ,exceeds' (,,, ,,), feedback is not needed at all. (2) The simplest modelling is used: (a) command, disturbance and sensor noise inputs, and (b) the available sensing points and the defined outputs. No special controllability test is needed in either linear or non-linear plants. It is inherent in the design procedure. There is no observability problem because uncertainty is included. The number of independent sensors determines the number of independent loop transmissions (Li), the functions which provide the benefits of feedback. (3) The simplest mathematical tools have been found most use ful,primarily frequency response. The uncertainties are expressed as sets in the complex plane. The need for the larger ,,, ,, sets to be squeezed into the smaller ,, set results in bounds on the Li(j,) in the complex plane. In the more complex systems a key problem is the division of the ,feedback burden' among the available Li(j,). Point-by-point frequency synthesis tremendously simplifies this problem. This is also true for highly uncertain non-linear and time-varying plants which are converted into rigorously equivalent linear time invariant plant sets and/or disturbance sets with respect to the acceptable output set ,,. Fixed point theory justifies the equivalence. (4) Design trade-offs are highly transparent in the frequency domain: between design complexity and cost of feedback (primarily bandwidth), sensor noise levels, plant saturation levels, number of sensors needed, relative sizes of ,,, ,, and cost of feedback. The designer sees the trade-offs between these factors as he proceeds and can decide according to their relative importance in his particular situation. QFT design techniques with these properties have been developed step by step for: (i) highly uncertain linear time invariant (LTI) SISO single- and multiple-loop systems, MIMO single-loop matrix and multiple-loop matrix systems; and (ii) non-linear and time-varying SISO and MIMO plants, and to a more limited extent for plants with distributed control inputs and sensors. QFT has also been developed for single- and multiple-loop dithered non-linear (adaptive) systems with LTI plants, and for a special class (FORE) of non-linear compensation. New techniques have been found for handling non-minimum-phase (NMP) MIMO plants, plants with both zeros and poles in the right half-plane and LTI plants with incidental hard non-linearities such as saturation. [source] An investigation into the swelling properties, dimensional changes, and gel layer evolution in chitosan tablets undergoing hydrationADVANCES IN POLYMER TECHNOLOGY, Issue 1 2009Manuel Efentakis Abstract The purpose of this research is to determine several characteristics of chitosan lactate in tablet form such as dimensional changes, gel evolution, swelling (liquid uptake), and erosion using an image analysis method. The examination of these characteristics will be helpful in the design of oral drug delivery systems with this polymer. It has been demonstrated that image analysis is a valuable technique, allowing the study of quantitative measurements of dimensional and core changes and gel evolution. The dimensional expansion changes of the chitosan lactate tablets were greater in water, and the crushing strength and the stirring effect affected these attributes to a limited extent. The fastest and greatest liquid uptake was observed in water, whereas the greatest erosion was observed in HCl. The thickness of the gel layer increased considerably with time up to the eighth hour, indicating the formation and development of a thick and durable gel, particularly in water. This is an essential characteristic for potential sustained drug release delivery. Consequently, this polymer appears to be a versatile material and a promising vehicle for the preparation of various oral sustained release medications and relevant devices. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Techn 28:32,39, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/adv.20147 [source] Experimental acute alcohol pancreatitis-related liver damage and endotoxemia: synbiotics but not metronidazole have a protective effectJOURNAL OF DIGESTIVE DISEASES, Issue 4 2005F MAROTTA OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to test the effect of gut manipulation by either novel synbiotics or by metronidazole on either endotoxemia or the severity of liver damage in the course of acute pancreatitis from alcohol ingestion. METHODS: Sprague,Dawley rats were fed for 1 week through an intragastric tube a liquid diet with either: (i) 1 mL t.i.d. of a mixture of synbiotics (Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus helveticus and Bifidobacterium in an enriched medium); (ii) 20 mg/kg t.i.d. metronidazole; or (iii) standard diet. Then, acute pancreatitis was induced by caerulein and when the disease was full-blown, rats were fed an alcohol-rich diet. Synbiotic and metronidazole treatment was given for a further 2 weeks. Transaminase and endotoxemia levels were measured before treatment, after 6 h, after 24 h and 2 weeks later, at the time the rats were killed. Liver samples were obtained for histological analysis. RESULTS: Synbiotics but not metronidazole improved the acute pancreatitis-induced increase in endotoxemia and transaminase levels. The addition of alcohol worsened these variables to a limited extent in the synbiotic-treated group, while metronidazole had a negative effect on liver damage. CONCLUSIONS: Gut flora pretreatment with synbiotics was able to effectively protect against endotoxin/bacterial translocation, as well as liver damage in the course of acute pancreatitis and concomitant heavy alcohol consumption. The beneficial effect of synbiotics on liver histology seems to be correlated with endotoxemia. Metronidazole did not produce such a beneficial effect; in fact, it further worsened liver damage when alcohol was added to the background of ongoing acute pancreatic inflammation. [source] Food-dependent individual growth and population dynamics in fishes,JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY, Issue 2006L. Persson It is long since well established that growth and development in fish individuals are heavily dependent on food intake. Yet, this dependence of individual development on food levels has only to a limited extent been taken into consideration when studying fish population and community processes. Using the modelling framework of physiologically structured population models and empirical data for a number of species configurations, how different size-dependent processes may affect fish population dynamics and community structures are reviewed. Considering competitive interactions, cohort interactions will often give rise to cohort cycles driven by an inequality in competitive abilities between differently sized individuals. The addition of cannibalism may dampen these cycles, the extent to which is dependent on life-history characteristics of the cannibals. The circumstance that individuals change their trophic position over their life cycle as a result of an increase in size gives rise to life history omnivory. In such omnivorous systems, food-dependent growth demotes the potential for predatory and prey fishes to coexist. In tritrophic food chains, food-dependent growth in the intermediate consumer may lead to the presence of bistability including sensitivity to catastrophic behaviour. These results shed new light on the drastic decreases observed in the stocks of many marine fish top predators including their inability to recover after fishing moratoria, and on the suggested presence of alternative states in freshwater fish communities. [source] Seasonal pheromone response by Ips pini in northern Arizona and western Montana, U.S.A.AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 3 2008Brytten E. Steed Abstract 1,Populations of Ips pini (Say) in northern Arizona and western Montana, U.S.A., were studied to determine regional pheromone response and to evaluate seasonal shifts in that response. A range of enantiomeric blends of the attractant ipsdienol, alone and in the presence of the synergist lanierone, were tested during spring and summer seasons over several years. 2,Both populations were most attracted to high levels of (R)-(,)-ipsdienol, and lanierone was highly synergistic. 3,A significant seasonal shift in pheromone response between spring and summer seasons was found in both regions in both years. Shifts resulted in a more specific preference for the pheromone treatment of 97% (R)-(,)-ipsdienol with lanierone. 4,Several coleopteran insect associates of I. pini also displayed responses to the ipsdienol and lanierone treatments. Temnochila chlorodia (Mannerheim) (Trogositidae), Enoclerus sphegeus (F.) (Cleridae) and, to a limited extent, Lasconotus laqueatus (LeConte) (Colydiidae) were attracted to higher proportions of (R)-(,)-ipsdienol with no apparent reaction to the presence of lanierone. Orthotomicus latidens (LeConte) (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) was strongly attracted to (S)-(+)-ipsdienol with Enoclerus lecontei (Wolcott) (Cleridae), Pityogenes carinulatus (LeConte) (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) and Hylurgops porosus (LeConte) (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) demonstrating some preferences for the (S)-(+)-enantiomer. However, lanierone was synergistic for E. lecontei and P. carinulatus, inhibitory for O. latidens, and produced no significant reaction for H. porosus. Elacatis sp. (Salpingidae, previously Othniidae) was attracted to the presence of ipsdienol but displayed no preference to the enantiomeric ratios of ipsdienol or the presence of lanierone. [source] Material design using molecular modeling for hydrogen storageAICHE JOURNAL, Issue 2 2009F. Darkrim Lamari Abstract Using grand canonical Monte-Carlo simulations, the adsorption capacities and isosteric heats of hydrogen on activated carbons, graphite nanofibers, and bundles of carbon nanotubes are estimated for identical thermodynamic states. These computations allow a systematic, meaningful, and unbiased comparison of the adsorption properties of hydrogen in such porous materials. The comparison shows that the hydrogen storage capacity can be optimized, but only to a limited extent, in adjusting the material pore sizes and functionalizing a part of the adsorption sites. Therefore, at room temperature and up to 70.0 MPa, for the three models of carbonaceous adsorbents, the hydrogen maximal excess adsorption is of the order of 2% of the adsorbent mass. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009 [source] Lactate transport and transporters: General principles and functional roles in brain cellsJOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH, Issue 1-2 2005Leif Hertz Abstract Lactate is transported across cell membranes by diffusional, saturable cotransport with protons, mediated by monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs). This transport is bidirectional and in the absence of a transcellular H+ gradient, it can increase the intracellular concentration of lactate up to but not beyond the extracellular level (or vice versa). If extra- and intracellular pH differ, however, the equilibrium level is determined by the gradients of both lactate anions and protons. Rates of lactate uptake are determined most often by measuring uptake of labeled lactate, e.g., [U- 14C]lactate. In the case of lactate and other compounds that are metabolized, errors are introduced easily because continuing inwardly directed diffusional net transport of label can be achieved by intracellular metabolism, reducing the intracellular level of the nonmetabolized lactate and thus maintaining a concentration gradient between extra- and intracellular concentrations of the nonmetabolized compound (metabolism-driven uptake). For measurement of facilitated diffusion kinetics, it is essential that the period during which the uptake is measured is short enough that little or no metabolism-driven uptake contributes to the measured uptake (or that first-order regression analysis is carried out to obtain initial uptake rates from nonlinear traces). To achieve initial uptake rates, incubation periods well below 1 min are generally required. Lactate uptake is fast in astrocytes, which express powerful, low-affinity MCTs, i.e., MCT1 and MCT4. Due to the low affinity of these transporters, they respond to increased lactate gradients with enhanced transporter activity. The predominant MCT in neurons is the high-affinity MCT2, which can only increase its activity to a limited extent in the face of an increased lactate gradient. This is reflected by a high-affinity lactate uptake, although most investigators also have demonstrated a component of lactate uptake with lower affinity. In both neurons and astrocytes, however, facilitated diffusion is fast enough that under most conditions lactate fluxes will be determined mainly by the rate of metabolism-driven uptake, and MCT-mediated transport only will be rate-limiting after establishment of large transmembrane gradients. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] The bulk crystallization of ,-lactose monohydrate from aqueous solutionJOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES, Issue 7 2001S.L. Raghavan Abstract The bulk crystallization of ,-lactose monohydrate from aqueous solution by primary nucleation has been studied under controlled conditions of supersaturation, temperature, and pH. The induction times to nucleation were extremely long compared with those generally observed for other materials, even at the high supersaturations used in the experiment. As a result, it was necessary to stir the supersaturated solution vigorously to induce nucleation in a reasonable but still lengthy working time. Even then, nucleation only occurred to a limited extent, following which growth ceased for 8,10 h before resuming. After this period, growth recommenced but again slowed to a low rate after another 8 h. At this stage, the yield of product was low and in most cases the particles had achieved sizes close to the maximum noted. The yields increased with further crystallization time (22,72 h total from the recommencement of growth) to give, under high initial supersaturation conditions, amounts of product close to the theoretical value. For the most part, however, the particle size did not increase with this later increase in yield, showing only significant changes after the extremely long total crystallization times. It is proposed that these extreme properties result from the formation in solution by mutarotation of the anomer ,-lactose, which inhibits nucleation as well as its previously observed influence on growth. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmaceutical Association J Pharm Sci 90:823,832, 2001 [source] Public Special Services Provided to People With Intellectual Disabilities in Sweden: A Life-Span PerspectiveJOURNAL OF POLICY AND PRACTICE IN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES, Issue 4 2008Õie Umb-Carlsson ABSTRACT This study describes public special services, support, and health care provided to an administratively defined county sample of people with intellectual disabilities from early childhood to adult age. Comparisons were made on the variables year of birth, sex, and assessed level of intellectual disabilities in 1974. Information was obtained from case files and included the period from year of birth of the participants (between 1959 and 1974) to 2005. All participants were provided public special services, support, and health care either periodically or throughout the study period. Changes in legislation were reflected in the type of services, support, and health care provided to the target group. Type and amount of special services and support were related to year of birth. Only a few differences were related to sex and level of intellectual disabilities. These results indicate that public special services, support, and health care provided to people with intellectual disabilities reflect disability policy, legislation, and professional attitudes over different periods. It is suggested that measures were tailored to meet general needs considered to be shared by all people with intellectual disabilities rather than individual choices and wishes. The interaction among professionals emerged only to a limited extent. However, deficient information in the case files does not imply absence of contact between professional groups, but, if continuity in services, support, and health care is to be attained, significant improvement in documentation is required. [source] Staff attitudes towards aggression in health care: a review of the literatureJOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 1 2005G. J. JANSEN rn mnsc The aim of this literature review was to explore the attitudes of health care workers towards inpatient aggression and to analyse the extent to which attitudes, as defined from a theoretical point of view, were addressed in the selected studies. Databases from 1980 up to the present were searched, and a content analysis was done on the items of the selected studies. The concepts ,cognition' and ,attitude' from the framework of ,The Theory of Reasoned Action' served as categories. The self-report questionnaire was the most common instrument used and three instruments specifically designed to measure attitudes were found. These instruments lacked profound validity testing. From a total of 74 items, two thirds focussed on cognitions and only a quarter really addressed attitudes towards aggression. Research was particularly concerned with the cognitions that nurses had about aggression, and attitudes were studied only to a limited extent. Researchers used different instruments, which makes it difficult to compare results across settings. [source] Book Acquisition in the Medieval Franciscan OrderJOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY, Issue 1 2003Neslihan Senocak The need to provide the friars with a sound theological formation for preaching and pastoral care forced the Franciscan order to establish a hierarchical network of convent schools in the Middle Ages. This inevitably necessitated the acquisition of books, both individually and institutionally, through the foundation of convent libraries. There were three main ways through which the friars enlarged their book collections: donations and bequests, purchase, and, to a limited extent, book production within the order. The evidence coming from the testamentary records and possession notes on the Franciscan manuscripts, combined with the testimony of the order's statutes, reveals the enthusiasm of the friars to collect and keep books, and the difficulties it prompted. [source] Applying wikis to managing knowledge,A socio-technical approachKNOWLEDGE AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT: THE JOURNAL OF CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION, Issue 1 2009Miia Kosonen As organizations are increasingly moving towards geographically dispersed and virtual forms of collaboration, knowledge sharing through social software such as wikis is widely acknowledged as an important area of research and practice. However, social software remains an under-investigated issue in the literature on knowledge management (KM), and there is a lack of studies demonstrating how organizations can successfully incorporate these technologies into their everyday operations. To bridge this gap, our paper examines a case of successful wiki implementation. We claim that understanding the implementation of wikis requires a socio-technical perspective focusing on the organizational context and activity system in which they are implemented rather than on their technological proficiency. Furthermore, we claim that their implementation brings about change in existing social systems, and results in new kinds of social constellations, interactions, and identities, which are manageable and controllable only to a limited extent. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) biosynthetic pathway of bloodstream-form Trypanosoma brucei is dependent on the de novo synthesis of inositolMOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 1 2006Kirstee L. Martin Summary In bloodstream-form Trypanosoma brucei (the causative agent of African sleeping sickness) the glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor biosynthetic pathway has been validated genetically and chemically as a drug target. The conundrum that GPI anchors could not be in vivo labelled with [3H]-inositol led us to hypothesize that de novo synthesis was responsible for supplying myo -inositol for phosphatidylinositol (PI) destined for GPI synthesis. The rate-limiting step of the de novo synthesis is the isomerization of glucose 6-phosphate to 1- d -myo -inositol-3-phosphate, catalysed by a 1- d -myo -inositol-3-phosphate synthase (INO1). When grown under non-permissive conditions, a conditional double knockout demonstrated that INO1 is an essential gene in bloodstream-form T. brucei. It also showed that the de novo synthesized myo -inositol is utilized to form PI, which is preferentially used in GPI biosynthesis. We also show for the first time that extracellular myo- inositol can in fact be used in GPI formation although to a limited extent. Despite this, extracellular inositol cannot compensate for the deletion of INO1. Supporting these results, there was no change in PI levels in the conditional double knockout cells grown under non-permissive conditions, showing that perturbation of growth is due to a specific lack of de novo synthesized myo -inositol and not a general inositol-less death. These results suggest that there is a distinction between de novo synthesized myo -inositol and that from the extracellular environment. [source] The use of quality of life measures in oral medicine: a review of the literatureORAL DISEASES, Issue 5 2010R Ni Riordain Oral Diseases (2010) 16, 419,430 Objectives:, To explore the use of patient reported quality of life measures in oral medicine, to highlight the importance of use of these measures in oral medicine practice and to provide guidance for the selection of such measures in the future. Methods:, A detailed literature review was undertaken to investigate the use of quality of life measures in oral medicine. The databases searched were MEDLINE (through PubMed), EMBASE, CINDHL, Web of Science Citation Index and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and randomised controlled trials. Results:, The initial literature search yielded a total of 5310 citations; however, only 63 of these fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Twenty-two articles were regarding oral mucosal conditions, 14 related to orofacial pain disorders and 27 were regarding salivary gland-related conditions. Conclusions:, The evaluation of quality of life in oral medicine has a broad applicability, providing information in treatment-based studies and population-based studies. A predominance of generic and oral health specific quality of life measures are being used to a limited extent in oral medicine practice. A scarcity of reports of the development, validation or use of disease specific measures is evident. [source] NPD Planning Activities and Innovation Performance: The Mediating Role of Process Management and the Moderating Effect of Product InnovativenessTHE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2007Sören Salomo The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of planning and control on the performance of new product development (NPD) projects. It is hypothesized that (1) thorough business planning at the beginning of a project creates a basis for proficient project and risk planning; (2) the proficiency of project planning, risk planning, and process management activities each improves innovation performance directly; (3) the relationship of planning and success is mediated by process management; and (4) the strength of these relationships is moderated by uncertainty, as determined by the degree of innovativeness. To test the hypotheses, data from 132 NPD projects were collected and analyzed. A measurement model was used to establish valid and reliable constructs, a path model to test the main effects, and a multiple-moderated regression analysis for the moderator hypotheses. The results suggest that the proficiency of project planning and process management is important predictors of NPD performance. Specifically, project risk planning and goal stability throughout the development process are found to enhance performance significantly. Business planning proves to be an important antecedent of the more development-related planning activities such as project planning and risk planning. Additionally, the results lend support to the hypotheses regarding the mediating role of process management in the planning,performance relationship. Project planning and risk planning support the quality of process management and thus impact NPD performance indirectly. Only to a limited extent are the strengths of these relationships moderated by the degree of innovativeness of the NPD project. [source] Growth performance, feed efficiency and fatty acid composition of juvenile Murray cod, Maccullochella peelii peelii, fed graded levels of canola and linseed oilAQUACULTURE NUTRITION, Issue 5 2007D.S. FRANCIS Abstract In two independent experiments, the effects of dietary inclusion of canola and linseed oil were evaluated in juvenile Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii peelii, Mitchell) over a 112-day period. In each experiment, fish received one of five semi-purified diets in which the dietary fish oil was replaced with canola oil (Experiment A) or linseed oil (Experiment B) in graded increments of 25% (0,100%). Murray cod receiving the graded canola and linseed oil diets ranged in final weight from 112.7 ± 7.6 to 73.8 ± 9.9 g and 93.9 ± 3.6 to 74.6 ± 2.2 g, respectively, and exhibited a negative trend in growth as the inclusion level increased. The fatty acid composition of the fillet and liver were modified extensively to reflect the fatty acid composition of the respective diets. Levels of oleic acid (18:1 n-9) and linoleic acid (18:2 n-6) increased with each level of canola oil inclusion while levels of , -linolenic acid (18:3 n-3) increased with each level of linseed oil inclusion. The concentration of n-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids in the fillet and liver decreased as the amount of vegetable oil in the diets increased. It is shown that the replacement of fish oil with vegetable oils in low fish meal diets for Murray cod is possible to a limited extent. Moreover, this study reaffirms the suggestion for the need to conduct ingredient substitution studies for longer periods and where possible to base the conclusions on regression analysis in addition to anova. [source] Proinflammatory mediator,induced reversal of CD4+,CD25+ regulatory T cell,mediated suppression in rheumatoid arthritisARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM, Issue 3 2007Jocea M. R. van Amelsfort Objective We previously demonstrated that CD4+,CD25+ regulatory T (Treg) cells are present in increased numbers in the synovial fluid (SF) of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and display enhanced suppressive activity as compared with their peripheral blood (PB) counterparts. Despite the presence of these immunoregulatory cells in RA, chronic inflammation persists. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether particular proinflammatory mediators that are associated with RA could abrogate CD4+,CD25+ Treg,mediated suppression. Methods Monocyte phenotype was determined by flow cytometry and cytokine levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Magnetically sorted CD4+,CD25, and CD4+,CD25+ T cells derived from the PB and SF obtained from RA patients were stimulated alone or in coculture with anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody (mAb) and autologous antigen-presenting cells, in the absence or presence of anti-CD28 mAb or the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor , (TNF,), or IL-7. Results Monocytes from the SF of RA patients displayed increased expression of HLA class II molecules, CD80, CD86, and CD40 as compared with PB-derived monocytes, indicating their activated status. Mimicking this increased costimulatory potential, addition of anti-CD28 mAb to cocultures of CD4+,CD25, and CD4+,CD25+ T cells resulted in reduced CD4+,CD25+ Treg,mediated suppression in both PB and SF. Furthermore, IL-7 and, to a limited extent, TNF,, both of which are produced by activated monocytes and were detected in SF, abrogated the CD4+,CD25+ Treg,mediated suppression. In contrast, IL-6 did not influence Treg-mediated suppression. Conclusion Our findings suggest that the interaction of CD4+,CD25+ Treg cells with activated monocytes in the joint might lead to diminished suppressive activity of CD4+,CD25+ Treg cells in vivo, thus contributing to the chronic inflammation in RA. [source] What Caused the Korean Currency Crisis in 1997?,: Weak Fundamentals or Self-fulfilling Expectations,ASIAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 2 2007In-Bong Ha F31; F41; O11 The present paper investigates which factor is primarily responsible for the sharp depreciation of the Korean won against the US dollar in 1997, using a bivariate vector autoregressive model of real and nominal exchange rates. In the present study, we directly identify the relative importance of fundamental and non-fundamental factors from the raw data series on exchange rates. This approach is different from most previous studies on the Korean currency crisis, which use proxy variables to represent the two factors. The empirical results show that the collapse of the Korean currency in 1997 appears to be mostly a result of the weakened macroeconomic fundamentals of the economy with, to a limited extent, some non-fundamental factors. [source] Simultaneous sensitivity to fragrancesBRITISH JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 5 2006D.A. Buckley Summary Background, Cinnamal/cinnamic alcohol and isoeugenol/eugenol are pairs of related fragrance chemicals found in Fragrance Mix I (FM I), and thus are routinely tested in combination with other fragrances in the European standard patch test series. Their close structural similarity makes the occurrence of simultaneous sensitivity within these chemical pairs likely, although at present there are no robust data to support this hypothesis. Objectives, To establish the frequency of simultaneous reactions to these fragrance chemicals in patients with suspected fragrance allergy attending a contact dermatitis clinic; to provide evidence in support of proposed metabolic pathways; and to determine whether including all four separately in FM I is necessary to avoid missing a diagnosis of fragrance allergy. Methods, We analysed retrospectively the records of patients patch tested to the European standard series during the 15-year period 1984,98 for positive reactions to FM I. In a subset of patients tested to the constituents of FM I, positive reactions to cinnamal, cinnamic alcohol, isoeugenol and eugenol were sought. Data were analysed using 2 × 2 contingency tables (Fisher's exact test). Results, During this period, 23 660 patients were tested to the European standard series, of whom 1811 (7·7%) had positive reactions to FM I. Of the 1112 patients tested to the constituents of FM I, 934 had positive reactions to at least one constituent (total 1324 positive reactions to constituents). Of these 934, 826 also had positive reactions to FM I itself; 108 were negative to FM I but reacted to one or more of its constituents. One hundred and seventy-eight patients did not react to any of the breakdown constituents of FM I; 34 of these had positive reactions to FM I itself. Of 139 patients allergic to cinnamic alcohol, 87 were also allergic to cinnamal (63%), compared with 108 (11·1%) of 973 cinnamic alcohol-negative patients (P < 0·00001). Of 231 patients allergic to isoeugenol, 50 were also allergic to eugenol (22%), vs. 109 (12·4%) of 881 isoeugenol-negative patients (P = 0·0002). Conclusions, These data support in vitro experiments indicating that cinnamal and cinnamic alcohol may generate a common hapten and are consistent with the view that simultaneous sensitization to isoeugenol and eugenol occurs to a limited extent, despite their being metabolized via different pathways. In view of the substantial number of isolated reactions to each of these fragrance chemicals, all four should continue to be included separately as constituents of FM I. [source] A typology of stakeholder participation for company environmental decision-makingBUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 5 2003Abigail Oxley Green Companies now recognise the need to identify and address the concerns of their stakeholders to ensure their decisions and business activities are more socially acceptable. However, despite stakeholder participation being widely accepted in the public sector and used to a limited extent within some business management processes, there is no accepted understanding of what stakeholder participation actually constitutes and certainly no systematic method for its application within companies and company decision-making. In order to support the development of such a method, stakeholder participation must first be defined in the ,company' context. Drawing from previous typologies of participation outlined in the literature, particularly relating to the public sector, this paper proposes a typology of stakeholder participation for companies, with particular relevance to environmental issues. It also outlines the needs and problems associated with developing a method of stakeholder participation for use in company decision-making. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||