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Being Stronger (being + stronger)
Selected AbstractsA cross-national examination of consumer perceived risk in the context of non-deceptive counterfeit brandsJOURNAL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR, Issue 1 2008Dr. Cleopatra Veloutsou This study investigates the relationships between six identified dimensions of perceived risk and the overall risk, and also their explanatory power to the overall risk when purchasing counterfeit brands in two different contexts. Using a self-administered instrument, a total of 525 responses were collected, 230 from the UK and 295 from China. The results support the hypothesised significant interrelationship between the dimensions of perceived risk in both contexts. However there are some differences. The models have a different exploratory power, with the one based on the British sample being stronger, while a somewhat different combination of the risk dimensions seems to predict the overall risk in each context. The psychological risk is the only dimension of risk that with no doubt contributes to the formation of the overall risk in both contexts. Although one could argue that when purchasing counterfeits social risk could be an issue, the evidence reported in this study does not support the view. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Inhibition and possible induction of rat CYP2D after short- and long-term treatment with antidepressantsJOURNAL OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACOLOGY: AN INTERNATI ONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE, Issue 11 2002Wladys, awa A. Daniel The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of tricyclic antidepressants (imipramine, amitriptyline, clomipramine, desipramine), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs: fluoxetine, sertraline) and novel antidepressant drugs (mirtazapine, nefazodone) on the activity of CYP2D, measured as a rate of ethylmorphine O -deethylation. The reaction was studied in control liver microsomes in the presence of the antidepressants, as well as in microsomes of rats treated intraperitoneally for one day or two weeks (twice a day) with pharmacological doses of the drugs (imipramine, amitriptyline, clomipramine, nefazodone 10 mg kg,1 i.p.; desipramine, fluoxetine, sertraline 5 mg kg,1 i.p.; mirtazapine 3 mg kg,1 i.p.), in the absence of the antidepressants in-vitro. Antidepressants decreased the activity of the rat CYP2D by competitive inhibition of the enzyme, the potency of their inhibitory effect being as follows: clomipramine (Ki = 14 ,M) > sertraline , fluoxetine (Ki = 17 and 16 ,M, respectively) > imipramine , amitriptyline (Ki = 26 and 25 ,M, respectively) > desipramine (Ki = 44 ,M) > nefazodone (Ki = 55 ,M) > mirtazapine (Ki = 107 ,M). A one-day treatment with antidepressants caused a significant decrease in the CYP2D activity after imipramine, fluoxetine and sertraline. After prolonged administration of antidepressants, the decreased CYP2D activity produced by imipramine, fluoxetine and sertraline was still maintained. Moreover, amitriptyline and nefazodone significantly decreased, while mirtazapine increased the activity of the enzyme. Desipramine and clomipramine did not produce any effect when administered in-vivo. The obtained results indicate three different mechanisms of the antidepressants-CYP2D interaction: firstly, competitive inhibition of CYP2D shown in-vitro, the inhibitory effects of tricyclic antidepressants and SSRIs being stronger than those of novel drugs; secondly, in-vivo inhibition of CYP2D produced by both one-day and chronic treatment with tricyclic antidepressants (except for desipramine and clomipramine) and SSRIs, which suggests inactivation of the enzyme apoprotein by reactive metabolites; and thirdly, in-vivo inhibition by nefazodone and induction by mirtazapine of CYP2D produced only by chronic treatment with the drugs, which suggests their influence on the enzyme regulation. [source] Modeling the effects of El Niño, density-dependence, and disturbance on harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) counts in Drakes Estero, California: 1997,2007MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2009Benjamin H. Becker Abstract Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) haul-out site use may be affected by natural or anthropogenic factors. Here, we use an 11-yr (1997,2007) study of a seal colony located near a mariculture operation in Drakes Estero, California, to test for natural (El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), density-dependence, long-term trends) and anthropogenic (disturbance or displacement related to oyster production activities) factors that may influence the use of haul-out subsites. Annual mariculture related seal disturbance rates increased significantly with increases in oyster harvest (rs= 0.55). Using generalized linear models (GLMs) ranked by best fit and Akaike's Information Criteria, ENSO and oyster production (as a proxy for disturbance/displacement) best explained the patterns of seal use at all three subsites near the mariculture operations, with effects being stronger at the two subsites closest to operations. Conversely, density-dependence and linear trend effects poorly explained the counts at these subsites. We conclude that a combination of ENSO and mariculture activities best explain the patterns of seal haul-out use during the breeding/pupping season at the seal haul-out sites closest to oyster activities. [source] Why men have shorter lives than women: Effects of resource availability, infectious disease, and senescenceAMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2009A.P. Møller Senescence arises from age-specific deterioration of the soma as a consequence of optimization of life history, and such effects of senescence should appear when comparing species that differ in intensity of sexual selection, as well as when comparing, within a species, the two sexes that often differ in intensity of sexual selection. However, any extrinsic cause of mortality that reduces life expectancy will reduce the possibility of detecting sex-specific differences in senescence. We investigated geographical variation in human sex differences in longevity across 121 countries to test whether differences in sexual competition for limiting resources, reflecting intensity of sexual selection, affected sex differences in longevity. Men on average lived 5 years shorter than women. High rates of childhood morbidity and mortality reduced the sex difference in longevity, while increased overall longevity increased the sex difference in longevity. Increased resource availability estimated from gross domestic product per capita reduced the sex difference in longevity, accounting for 10% of the variance, while there was no additional effect of income inequality as reflected by the Gini coefficient. In a separate analysis of sex differences in longevity among the states of the US, there was a strong effect of the Gini coefficient on sex difference in longevity, with the negative effect on male longevity being stronger than that on female longevity. In contrast, there was only a marginal effect of average household income. Thus, there was evidence of increased competition for resources contributing to increased sex differences in longevity within a single nation. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Trust, Inequality and Ethnic HeterogeneityTHE ECONOMIC RECORD, Issue 258 2006ANDREW LEIGH Using a large Australian social survey, combined with precise data on neighbourhood characteristics, I explore the factors that affect trust at a local level (,localised trust') and at a national level (,generalised trust'). Trust is positively associated with the respondent's education, and negatively associated with the amount of time spent commuting. At a neighbourhood level, trust is higher in affluent areas, and lower in ethnically and linguistically heterogeneous communities, with the effect being stronger for linguistic heterogeneity than ethnic heterogeneity. Linguistic heterogeneity reduces localised trust for both natives and immigrants, and reduces generalised trust only for immigrants. Instrumental variables specifications show similar results. In contrast to the USA, there is no apparent relationship between trust and inequality across neighbourhoods in Australia. [source] |