Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Global Impact (global + impact)
Selected Abstracts"Face of the Brand": A design methodology with global potentialDESIGN MANAGEMENT REVIEW, Issue 4 2001Dannielle Blumenthal To cope with the multiplicity of world markets, Dannielle Blumenthal presents a strategy known as "face of the brand." In this approach, brand is less about a uniform message and logo and more about a distinctive competitive position expressed through a palette of images, colors, shapes, and language that can, without losing its global impact,be designed and adapted to suit the nuances of individual cultures and consumer preferences. [source] Use of the Migraine Disability Assessment Questionnaire in Children and Adolescents With Headache: An Italian Pilot StudyHEADACHE, Issue 7 2003D. D'Amico MD Objectives.,To determine the suitability of the Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS) Questionnaire for assessing disability in children and adolescents with headache and to obtain preliminary information about disability in different primary headaches. Background.,During the last decade, researchers have begun to employ standardized methodologies to investigate the global impact of primary headaches. Disease-specific instruments have been developed to measure headache-related disability. The MIDAS Questionnaire, which is the most extensively studied of these instruments, was designed to assess the overall impact of headaches over the 3 months before compilation. The MIDAS Questionnaire is an optimal tool to assess headache-related disability in adults. Methods.,Ninety-five patients aged 7 to 17 years with tension-type headache, migraine, or both completed the validated Italian form of the MIDAS questionnaire on 2 occasions. Test-retest reliability was assessed by the Spearman rank correlation test. The Cronbach , assessed internal consistency. The patients answered questions about the adequacy of the questionnaire. Results.,The Cronbach , was .8. Correlation coefficients were generally high for the overall MIDAS score and for the items investigating disability in school and in family/leisure activities; they were lower for the items about housework. Most patients thought that the MIDAS Questionnaire was useful (98.9%) and that it captured the impact of their headaches (58.9%); 41% thought that questions about disability in housework were useless, 44.2% suggested adding questions regarding inability to do homework. All primary headaches had a considerable impact on daily activities, but patients with migraine tended to have lower headache frequencies and lower total disability time; those with tension-type headache suffered more days in which activities, although performed, were substantially impaired. Conclusions.,The MIDAS Questionnaire is useful for assessing disability in children and adolescents with different primary headaches. Minimal changes in the phrasing and content of the items would be sufficient to render the MIDAS specific for the younger population with headache. [source] Simulating soil-water movement under a hedgerow surrounding a bottomland reveals the importance of transpiration in water balanceHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 5 2008Z. Thomas Abstract The objective of this study was to quantify components of the water balance related to root-water uptake in the soil below a hedgerow. At this local scale, a two-dimensional (2D) flow domain in the x,z plane 6 m long and 1·55 m deep was considered. An attempt was made to estimate transpiration using a simulation model. The SWMS-2D model was modified and used to simulate temporally and spatially heterogeneous boundary conditions. A function with a variable spatial distribution of root-water uptake was considered, and model calibration was performed by adjusting this root-water uptake distribution. Observed data from a previous field study were compared against model predictions. During the validation step, satisfactory agreement was obtained, as the difference between observed and modelled pressure head values was less than 50 cm for 80% of the study data. Hedge transpiration capacity is a significant component of soil-water balance in the summer, when predicted transpiration reaches about 5·6 mm day,1. One of the most important findings is that hedge transpiration is nearly twice that of a forest canopy. In addition, soil-water content is significantly different whether downslope or upslope depending on the root-water uptake. The high transpiration rate was mainly due to the presence of a shallow water table below the hedgerow trees. Soil-water content was not a limiting factor for transpiration in this context, as it could be in one with a much deeper water table. Hedgerow tree transpiration exerts a strong impact not only on water content within the vadose zone but also on the water-table profile along the transect. Results obtained at the local scale reveal that the global impact of hedges at the catchment scale has been underestimated in the past. Transpiration rate exerts a major influence on water balance at both the seasonal and annual scales for watersheds with a dense network of hedgerows. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Expatriate mangers: A historical reviewINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT REVIEWS, Issue 3 2009Michael Harvey As expatriate managers continue to be a viable means for exercising control over foreign operations, they can have a direct impact on organizational performance, and therefore a delineation of the history of these key leaders in order to enhance our understanding of their continued significant impact is a laudable goal. The paper discusses each stage of the human resource management process, beginning with the identification and concluding with the repatriation stage of expatriate managers. Each stage is discussed in terms of the successes as well as problems/failures associated with the individual, organizational, environmental and systemic unit in mind. The paper concludes with future implications emphasizing the necessity to create new and/or enhance current practices relating to the development of expatriate managers' maximum global impact depending on the evolving nature of the globalization of business. [source] Anti-aging activity of the Ink4/Arf locusAGING CELL, Issue 2 2009Ander Matheu Summary The proteins encoded by the Ink4/Arf locus, p16Ink4a, p19Arf and p15Ink4b are major tumour suppressors that oppose aberrant mitogenic signals. The expression levels of the locus are progressively increased during aging and genome-wide association studies have linked the locus to a number of aging-associated diseases and frailty in humans. However, direct measurement of the global impact of the Ink4/Arf locus on organismal aging and longevity was lacking. In this work, we have examined the fertility, cancer susceptibility, aging and longevity of mice genetically modified to carry one (Ink4/Arf -tg) or two (Ink4/Arf -tg/tg) intact additional copies of the locus. First, increased gene dosage of Ink4/Arf impairs the production of male germ cells, and in the case of Ink4/Arf -tg/tg mice results in a Sertoli cell-only-like syndrome and a complete absence of sperm. Regarding cancer, there is a lower incidence of aging-associated cancer proportional to the Ink4/Arf gene dosage. Interestingly, increased Ink4/Arf gene dosage resulted in lower scores in aging markers and in extended median longevity. The increased survival was also observed in cancer-free mice indicating that cancer protection and delayed aging are separable activities of the Ink4/Arf locus. In contrast to these results, mice carrying one or two additional copies of the p53 gene (p53 -tg and p53 -tg/tg) had a normal longevity despite their increased cancer protection. We conclude that the Ink4/Arf locus has a global anti-aging effect, probably by favouring quiescence and preventing unnecessary proliferation. [source] Instream Flow Science For Sustainable River Management,JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 5 2009Geoffrey E Petts Abstract:, Concerns for water resources have inspired research developments to determine the ecological effects of water withdrawals from rivers and flow regulation below dams, and to advance tools for determining the flows required to sustain healthy riverine ecosystems. This paper reviews the advances of this environmental flows science over the past 30 years since the introduction of the Instream Flow Incremental Methodology. Its central component, Physical HABitat SIMulation, has had a global impact, internationalizing the e-flows agenda and promoting new science. A global imperative to set e-flows, including an emerging trend to set standards at the regional scale, has led to developments of hydrological and hydraulic approaches but expert judgment remains a critical element of the complex decision-making process around water allocations. It is widely accepted that river ecosystems are dependent upon the natural variability of flow (the flow regime) that is typical of each hydro-climatic region and upon the range of habitats found within each channel type within each region. But as the sophistication of physical (hydrological and hydraulic) models has advanced emerging biological evidence to support those assumptions has been limited. Empirical studies have been important to validate instream flow recommendations but they have not generated transferable relationships because of the complex nature of biological responses to hydrological change that must be evaluated over decadal time-scales. New models are needed to incorporate our evolving knowledge of climate cycles and morphological sequences of channel development but most importantly we need long-term research involving both physical scientists and biologists to develop new models of population dynamics that will advance the biological basis for 21st Century e-flow science. [source] Annotation: Paediatric HIV InfectionTHE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 4 2001Rebekah Lwin HIV and AIDS have made a huge global impact, permeating the social, cultural, and economic fabric of almost all nations. The first cases of HIV infection in children were reported in the late 1980s and numbers have since risen steadily throughout the world, with some of the poorest and least developed countries experiencing the highest prevalence. Combined drug regimes have changed the course of HIV-related illness and brought increased survival to those for whom treatment is available. With this, however, have come fresh concerns relating to drug resistance, treatment adherence, and the risk of second-generation vertical transmission as HIV-infected children now survive into adulthood and beyond. The psychological literature has addressed issues such as the direct effect of HIV on child development, social and cultural attitudes, family functioning and support, affected children and orphans of HIV-infected parents, sexual health education, disclosure of diagnosis, and long-term clinical management. The outcome for those living in wealthier countries is optimistic, but the spread of this virus in the rest of the world and its impact on family life and social and political systems remains of great concern. [source] Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of West Nile virusACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION F (ELECTRONIC), Issue 5 2010Bärbel Kaufmann West Nile virus, a human pathogen, is closely related to other medically important flaviviruses of global impact such as dengue virus. The infectious virus was purified from cell culture using polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation and density-gradient centrifugation. Thin amorphously shaped crystals of the lipid-enveloped virus were grown in quartz capillaries equilibrated by vapor diffusion. Crystal diffraction extended at best to a resolution of about 25,Å using synchrotron radiation. A preliminary analysis of the diffraction images indicated that the crystals had unit-cell parameters a , b , 480,Å, , = 120°, suggesting a tight hexagonal packing of one virus particle per unit cell. [source] The evolving role of microRNAs in animal gene expressionBIOESSAYS, Issue 5 2006Katlin B. Massirer MicroRNAs (miRNAs) constitute an abundant family of 22-nucleotide RNAs that base-pair to target mRNAs and typically inhibit their expression. To assess the global impact of animal miRNAs on gene regulation, the expression of predicted targets and their cognate miRNAs was extensively analyzed in mammals and Drosophila.1,2 In general, targets are co-expressed at relatively low or undetectable levels in the same tissues as the miRNAs predicted to regulate them. Additionally, genes that are highly co-expressed with miRNAs usually lack target sites. The authors conclude that many animal genes are under evolutionary pressure to maintain or avoid complementary sites to miRNAs.1,2 Thus, the miRNA pathway broadly contributes to the complex gene regulatory networks that shape animal tissue development and identity. BioEssays 28: 449,452, 2006. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Taking it to the max: The genetic and developmental mechanisms coordinating midfacial morphogenesis and dysmorphologyCLINICAL GENETICS, Issue 3 2004TC Cox The rapid proliferative expansion and complex morphogenetic events that coordinate the development of the face underpin the sensitivity of this structure to genetic and environmental insult and provide an explanation for the high incidence of midfacial malformation. Most notable of these malformations is cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CLP) that, with an incidence of between one in 600 and one in 1000 live births, is the fourth most common congenital disorder in humans. Despite the obvious global impact of the disorder and some recent progress in identifying causative genes for some prominent syndromal forms, our knowledge of the key genetic factors contributing to the more common isolated cases of CLP is still remarkably patchy. The current understanding of the molecular and cellular processes that orchestrate morphogenesis of the midface, with emphasis on events leading to fusion of the lip and primary palate, is detailed in this review. The roles of crucial factors identified from relevant animal model systems, including BMP4 and SHH, and the likely events perturbed by key genes pinpointed in human studies [such as PVRL1, IRF6p63, MID1, MSX1, and PTCH1] are discussed in this light. New candidates for human CLP genes are also proposed. [source] Influences of species, latitudes and methodologies on estimates of phenological response to global warmingGLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, Issue 9 2007CAMILLE PARMESANArticle first published online: 14 AUG 200 Abstract New analyses are presented addressing the global impacts of recent climate change on phenology of plant and animal species. A meta-analysis spanning 203 species was conducted on published datasets from the northern hemisphere. Phenological response was examined with respect to two factors: distribution of species across latitudes and taxonomic affiliation or functional grouping of target species. Amphibians had a significantly stronger shift toward earlier breeding than all other taxonomic/functional groups, advancing more than twice as fast as trees, birds and butterflies. In turn, butterfly emergence or migratory arrival showed three times stronger advancement than the first flowering of herbs, perhaps portending increasing asynchrony in insect,plant interactions. Response was significantly stronger at higher latitudes where warming has been stronger, but latitude explained < 4% of the variation. Despite expectation, latitude was not yet an important predictor of climate change impacts on phenology. The only two previously published estimates of the magnitude of global response are quite different: 2.3 and 5.1 days decade,1 advancement. The scientific community has assumed this difference to be real and has attempted to explain it in terms of biologically relevant phenomena: specifically, differences in distribution of data across latitudes, taxa or time periods. Here, these and other possibilities are explored. All analyses indicate that the difference in estimated response is primarily due to differences between the studies in criteria for incorporating data. It is a clear and automatic consequence of the exclusion by one study of data on ,stable' (nonresponsive) species. Once this is accounted for, the two studies support each other, generating similar conclusions despite analyzing substantially nonoverlapping datasets. Analyses here on a new expanded dataset estimate an overall spring advancement across the northern hemisphere of 2.8 days decade,1. This is the first quantitative analysis showing that data-sampling methodologies significantly impact global (synthetic) estimates of magnitude of global warming response. [source] China's Energy in Transition: Regional and Global ImplicationsASIAN ECONOMIC POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2006Tianshu CHU China is the largest energy user in Asia and the second largest in the world after the US. This paper documents substantial changes of the structure of China's energy use over the past decades. It explores the puzzling phenomena of China's low gross domestic product elasticity of energy consumption. Econometric analysis applying the AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average model finds that factors such as institutional reforms and structural change can account for a substantial fraction of the downward impacts on the elasticity level. The paper also studies the future energy growth and energy security issues in China, and examines the regional and global impacts of China's rapidly growing energy consumption. [source] | ||||||||||||||||