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Diverse Nature (diverse + nature)
Selected AbstractsErythropoiesis-stimulating agents: development, detection and dangers,DRUG TESTING AND ANALYSIS, Issue 6 2009Stefan E. Franz Abstract Epoetin alfa, the first member of the family of erythropoiesis stimulating agents (ESAs), was introduced to the market in 1989. Since then development has progressed to epoetins of the third generation. Currently drugs that use alternative approaches to stimulate erythropoiesis are under development. Uptake of all available ESAs into doping has occurred rapidly after their introduction. A multitude of dangers to health are associated with the illicit use of these substances. Different approaches to detect ESAs in doping control have been developed to comply with the very diverse nature of the compounds used. Future developments in the field of ESA require the development of new techniques in doping analysis. This review gives an overview of the development of ESA and its detection methods as well as future developments. [Correction made here after initial online publication] Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Transnational communities and business systemsGLOBAL NETWORKS, Issue 2 2001Glenn Morgan The paper examines the concept of ,transnational communities' as a way of understanding globalization practices in business and management. It argues that ,transnational communities' are emergent properties of the internationalizing of economic activity. Three specific aspects of this process are considered in detail: the development of multinational companies; the development of international regulatory bodies; and the development of cognitive and normative frameworks through the practices of business education, management consultancies and other global professional service firms. It is argued that in each case, transnational spaces are emerging; within these spaces, transnational communities are developing. The article calls for more research into the diverse nature of these spaces and communities as a way of avoiding the sterile polarities of what Held et al. (1999) refer to as the ,hyperglobalists' and the ,sceptics'. [source] Evaluating human capital: an exploratory study of management practiceHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, Issue 4 2004Juanita Elias The article explores the development of systems of human capital evaluation in a number of large UK firms. Human capital is a much used term in business literature, and it is widely recognised that firms need to develop mechanisms to determine the value of their employee base. An extensive human capital literature has developed in which the authors propose elaborate systems for measuring a firm's human assets. This article does not seek to offer yet another human capital model. Rather, the aim is to examine the management practices through which human capital evaluation is undertaken. The article is based on an exploratory study of such practices in 11 major firms in the UK. The findings are highlighted as follows. First, we note the preference for internal over external (static accountancy-based) reporting. Secondly, we highlight the diverse nature of human capital evaluation systems that exist across UK business. Thirdly, we explore the relationship between practices of evaluation and the role and position of the HR function within the firm. Finally, in conclusion, we address the implications of the human capital perspective for practitioners, arguing that there is no single formula that can be applied to its evaluation. We go on to suggest that the importance of the human capital concept and its measurement may lie in its ability to re-frame perceptions of the relationship between the contribution of employees and the competitive performance of the business. [source] Policy related to abdominoplasty in publicly funded elective surgery programs: a systematic reviewINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE BASED HEALTHCARE, Issue 2 2009Alan Pearson RN, DipNEd Abstract Objectives, This systematic review set out to establish best practice in relation to policy for the inclusion/exclusion of abdominoplasty procedures within public health systems. Inclusion criteria, The review considered any studies relating to abdominoplasty that addressed issues of inclusion/exclusion from public funded health systems including criteria for clinical need, contraindications, fit/ready for surgery, policy compliance and issues in relation to surgical training. Search strategy, The search strategy sought to find published and unpublished studies and papers limited to English. An initial search of Medline and CINAHL was undertaken, followed by an analysis of keywords contained in the title, abstract and index terms. A second comprehensive search was then undertaken using Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE, AUSTROM, Health Business, and FullTEXT Elite and PsycINFO. The search was restricted to the period 1995,2005. Methodological quality, Each paper identified was assessed by two independent reviewers for methodological quality before inclusion in the review using an appropriate critical appraisal instrument from the Joanna Briggs Institute System for the Unified Management and Assessment Review Instrument package. Results, A total of 19 papers were included in the review. Owing to the diverse nature of the papers no meta-analysis or meta-synthesis was able to be used to pool studies. The results are therefore presented in a narrative form. The papers identified were mainly retrospective audits and discussion/opinion papers. The main issues addressed were criteria to establish clinical need, contraindications and policy compliance. Conclusion, There are clinical indicators, mainly in relation to physical symptoms/dysfunction, to support exemption of some cases of abdominoplasty. For abdominoplasty to be conducted clinical need must be assessed and formally documented. Where clinical need is primarily based on psychological distress/dysfunction a formal psychiatric assessment should be used to justify surgery. [source] Global warming affects phenology and voltinism of Lobesia botrana in SpainAGRICULTURAL AND FOREST ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 2 2010Daniel Martín-Vertedor 1Climate change is promoting alterations of a very diverse nature in the life cycle of an array of insect species, including changes in phenology and voltinism. In Spain, there is observational evidence that the moth Lobesia botrana Den. & Schiff. (Lep.: Tortricidae), a key vine pest that is usually trivoltine in Mediterranean latitudes, tends to advance spring emergence, displaying a partial fourth additional flight, a fact that is potentially attributable to global warming. 2To verify this hypothesis, local temperatures were correlated with L. botrana phenology in six vine-growing areas of southwestern Spain during the last two decades (1984,2006) by exploiting the database of flight curves obtained with sexual pheromone traps. The dates of second and third flight peaks of the moth were calculated for each area and year and then correlated with both time (years) and local temperatures. 3The results obtained demonstrated a noteworthy trend towards local warming (as a result of global warming) in the last two decades, with mean increases in annual and spring temperatures of 0.9 and 3.0°C, respectively. Therefore, L. botrana phenology has significantly advanced by more than 12 days. Moreover, the phenological advance contributed to increased moth voltinism in 2006 by promoting a complete fourth additional flight, a fact that has never been reported previously to our knowledge in the Iberian Peninsula. 4The potential impact of an earlier phenology and increased voltinism in L. botrana is discussed from an agro-ecological perspective. [source] A previously unrecognized sixth genotype of GB virus C revealed by analysis of 5,-untranslated region sequencesJOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY, Issue 1 2006A. Scott Muerhoff Abstract GB virus C (GBV-C) is a positive-strand RNA virus that infects a large proportion of the world's human population. It has been classified tentatively as a member of the Flaviviridae family and has been shown to exist as a group of five closely related genotypes. Recently, we reported the first full-length genome sequence of a genotype 5 isolate from South Africa [Muerhoff et al. (2005): J Gen Virol 86: 1729,1735]. As part of the analysis of that sequence, a phylogenetic tree was elucidated from the 5,-untranslated region (UTR) that showed excellent congruence to the tree produced by analysis of complete open reading frame sequences. When 5,-UTR analysis was broadened subsequently to include additional isolates from around the globe, a heretofore unrecognized GBV-C genotype was discovered in Indonesia. When first reported in 2000 [Handajani et al. (2000): J Clin Microbiol 38:662,668], these isolates were described as constituting a novel fifth genotype. However, comparison to isolates from the then-known fourth and fifth genotypes (from Myanmar/Vietnam and South Africa, respectively) was not performed. A dataset of 121 GBV-C 5,-UTR sequences was complied and included representatives of the fourth and fifth genotypes as well as the "novel" Indonesian sequences and demonstrated, with strong support via bootstrap analysis, the existence of a sixth GBV-C genotype among infected individuals in Indonesia. The discovery of this sixth genotype emphasizes the diverse nature of GBV-C isolates and may have important implications for the interpretation of studies involving GBV-C/HIV co-infected individuals. J. Med. Virol. 78:105,111, 2006. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, inc. [source] Practical Considerations in Acne Treatment and the Clinical Impact of Topical Combination TherapyPEDIATRIC DERMATOLOGY, Issue 2008Andrew C. Krakowski M.D. The effects of acne are profound both physically and psychosocially across all age groups and ethnicities; therefore, prompt recognition and appropriate treatment are critical. Pharmacotherapeutic approaches range from simple monotherapy to multimodal treatments with a variety of topical and systemic agents. Optimal patient outcomes in acne management, however, are based both on treatment efficacy as well as overall patient satisfaction. In an effort to comprehensively address these key clinical considerations in acne management, we examine the diverse nature of acne patients, the factors in optimizing treatment outcomes, and the clinical impact of current medications, particularly topical combination therapy. [source] Work, Wages and Gender in Export-Oriented Cities: Global Assembly versus International Tourism in MexicoBULLETIN OF LATIN AMERICAN RESEARCH, Issue 1 2007CHRISTOPHER R. TAMBORINI Drawing on a rich source of urban labour market data, the Mexican National Urban Employment Survey of 1998, this article addresses the question of how dissimilar export-oriented industries shape urban labour markets, particularly with respect to women workers. It compares Ciudad Juárez, which has an economy based on global assembly production, and Cancún, whose economy is based on international tourism. Employing economic base theory and location quotients, the analysis isolates the impact of the export sectors on the local labour markets. Results show that global assembly and international tourism encourage a mix of occupational and income prospects for both men and women in each of these Mexican cities. Female employment tends to be concentrated in the export-oriented sector in both cases, but the types of occupational and income opportunities therein vary. Overall, the analysis challenges common exploitation arguments that tend to stress the universally shared deleterious working conditions and low wages that result from global integration and export-led industrialisation in contemporary Latin America. It suggests that we pay closer attention to the diverse nature of outward oriented industries, which will tend to differentiate the labour market implications of increasing economic globalisation. [source] Dispersion-Oriented Soft Interaction in a Frustrated Lewis Pair and the Entropic Encouragement Effect in its FormationCHEMISTRY - A EUROPEAN JOURNAL, Issue 48 2009Woo Kim Abstract The origin of the stability of a frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) tBu3P:B(C6F5)3 is investigated computationally to demonstrate the importance of the dispersion interaction. To this end, the interaction between alkyl-substituted phosphines (Me3P and tBu3P) and hexafluorobenzene (C6F6) is first investigated. Driven by the lone-pair to ,-orbital interaction, the binding energy is found to be even larger than usual ,,, interaction energies between small aromatic compounds. This character, which is inherited to fluorophenyl-substituted B(C6F5)3 in the FLP, induces large flexibility in the FLP over the molecular surface of B(C6F5)3. This soft interaction, in turn, causes an entropic stabilization of the FLP formation in comparison with classical Lewis pairs based on close and tight PB dative bonds. It also suggests a diverse nature of the FLP when it is involved in chemical reactions. Even with the cooperative participation of the perfluorophenyl groups, a detailed inspection of the FLP interaction potential energy surface indicates that the boron atom is still the major interaction site for the pair formation. This non-negligible direct PB interaction, which is related also to the soft nature of the borane frontier orbital, is further supported by substantial spatial overlap between the frontier orbitals on the phosphine/borane fragments and their interaction energy estimations. [source] Molecular Diversity Of Vascular Potassium Channel IsoformsCLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PHARMACOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 4 2002Victoria P Korovkina SUMMARY 1. One essential role for potassium channels in vascular smooth muscle is to buffer cell excitation and counteract vasoconstrictive influences. Several molecular mechanisms regulate potassium channel function. The interaction of these mechanisms may be one method for fine-tuning potassium channel activity in response to various physiological and pathological challenges. 2. The most prevalent K+ channels in vascular smooth muscle are large-conductance calcium- and voltage-sensitive channels (maxi-K channels) and voltage-gated channels (Kv channels). Both channel types are complex molecular structures consisting of a pore-forming , -subunit and an ancillary , -subunit. The maxi-K and Kv channel , -subunits assemble as tetramers and have S4 transmembrane domains that represent the putative voltage sensor. While most vascular smooth muscle cells identified to date contain both maxi-K and Kv channels, the expression of individual , -subunit isoforms and , -subunit association occurs in a tissue-specific manner, thereby providing functional specificity. 3. The maxi-K channel , -subunit derives its molecular diversity by alternative splicing of a single-gene transcript to yield multiple isoforms that differ in their sensitivity to intracellular Ca2+ and voltage, cell surface expression and post- translational modification. The ability of this channel to assemble as a homo- or heterotetramer allows for fine-tuning control to intracellular regulators. Another level of diversity for this channel is in its association with accessory , -subunits. Multiple , -subunits have been identified that can arise either from separate genes or alternative splicing of a , -subunit gene. The maxi-K channel , -subunits modulate the channel's Ca2+ and voltage sensitivity and kinetic and pharmacological properties. 4. The Kv channel , -subunit derives its diverse nature by the expression of several genes. Similar to the maxi-K channel, this channel has been shown to assemble as a homo- and heterotetramer, which can significantly change the Kv current phenotype in a given cell type. Association with a number of the ancillary , -subunits affects Kv channel function in several ways. Beta-subunits can induce inactivating properties and act as chaperones, thereby regulating channel cell-surface expression and current kinetics. [source] | ||||||||||||||||