Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Important Focus (important + focus)
Selected AbstractsPUBLIC SECTOR REFORM IN DUTCH HIGHER EDUCATION: THE ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE UNIVERSITYPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 1 2007HARRY F DE BOER During the past few decades traditional state-centred governing arrangements have been critiqued and replaced by alternative modes of governance. Higher education is one of the public sectors where such shifts in governance have been seen. As a consequence of the reshuffling of authority and responsibilities across the different levels in Dutch higher education, universities as organizations have become important foci of attention in the system's coordination. The main question addressed in this article is to what extent we can speak of an organizational transformation of Dutch universities. Based on conceptual ideas from researchers such as Greenwood and Hinings (1996), Ferlie et al. (1996), and Brunsson and Sahlin-Andersson (2000), we use a framework that focuses attention on the concepts of the construction of identity, hierarchy and rationality to systematically analyse the various aspects of transformations of professional organizations. [source] What helps Opuntia stricta invade Kruger National Park, South Africa: Baboons or elephants?APPLIED VEGETATION SCIENCE, Issue 2 2007L.C. Foxcroft Germishuizen & Meyer (2003) for plant species Abstract Question: Is Opuntia stricta more frequent, and its patches larger, under trees suitable for baboon roosting? If so, does it mean that baboons are major dispersal agents and that plants established under these trees are important foci of Opuntia stricta spread? Location: Skukuza, Kruger National Park, South Africa. Method: We surveyed an area invaded by Opuntia stricta in the Skukuza region of KNP. The survey included plots under potential baboon roosting trees,plots under trees unlikely to support baboons,and paired randomly located open sites. Results: The null hypothesis -tree- Opuntia spatial independence , can be rejected for Acacia nilotica, but not for Spirostachys africana. Opuntia plants are positively associated with Acacia trees suitable for baboon roosting. However, there is no significant difference between frequency of Opuntia under Acacia trees suitable and unsuitable for baboon roosting. It appears that all Acacia trees can serve as nurse trees for Opuntia. Compared to plots under Acacia trees, frequencies of old and robust Opuntia plants are significantly higher in open areas and under dead trees. Conclusions: While baboons may be responsible for long distance Opuntia dispersal (over km),their role is not detectable at a local scale. On the other hand, elephants seem to contribute substantially to the local vegetative propagation of this species. Opuntia establishment and growth are more influenced by micro-habitat than previously thought. [source] Medical ethics in the 21st centuryJOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 1 2000M. Parker Abstract. Parker M, Hope T (Institute of Health Sciences, Headington, Oxford, UK). Medical ethics in the 21st century. J Intern Med 2000; 248: 1,6. Objectives. To foresee how medical ethics may develop in the 21st century. Design. We have looked into our crystal ball to see what factors are likely to drive medical ethics over the next few decades. We have given examples of how such factors might affect specific issues. Results. Those factors that we identified as likely to shape the future of medical ethics are: Globalization. Medical ethics is likely to have to grapple increasingly with ethical issues arising from the huge discrepancies in the level of health care available in different countries. Increase in longevity. We predict that there will be, at least amongst the richer nations, a significant increase in life expectancy. This will result in issues of resource allocation becoming increasingly problematic within medicine. Child enhancement. Developments in genetics combined with control of reproduction will make it possible to select our children for a broad range of characteristics. There are optimistic and pessimistic predictions as to how such power will be used. In either case, this area will be an important focus of concern in medical ethics. The biological determination of behaviour. Genetic research will lead to an increasing sense that undesirable behaviour is genetically determined. This will lead to a re-examination of such concepts as criminal responsibility. Therapeutic research and clinical practice. We predict that an increasing amount of clinical practice will be within the setting of clinical trials. The ethics of therapeutic research and clinical practice will need to be brought within a coherent framework. [source] Flow cytometry as a method for studying effects of stressors on primary rat neuronsJOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH, Issue 3 2005H. Behbahani Abstract The mechanisms associated with cell death have been an important focus for neurobiology research. In the present study, the methodology of flow cytometry was used to optimize quantification of the toxic effects of tumor necrosis factor-, (TNF-,), trans-4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE), and aged amyloid-, (A,1,42) on rat primary cortical neurons. The fluorescent dyes annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide (PI) were used to identify populations of viable, early apoptotic, necrotic and late apoptotic cells by flow cytometry. Prior to exposure, the primary cultures showed 83% cell viability. Flow cytometry following labeling of cells with a specific neuronal marker, TUJ-1, revealed 82% pure neuronal populations, whereas approximately 7% were astrocytic as shown by glial fibrillary acidic protein positivity. Exposure of primary cultures to TNF-,, 4-HNE, and aged A,1,42 gave an increased number of early apoptotic cells. We show that flow cytometry is a suitable method for quantifying effects of different stressors on neurons in primary cultures. This technique could be useful for screening and testing of pharmacological compounds relevant to neurodegenerative disorders. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Potato glycoalkaloids: formation and strategies for mitigationJOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 11 2008Prabhat K Nema Abstract With the increasing production and consumption of potato and its products, glycoalkaloid (GA) formation and toxicity are likely to become an important focus for food safety researchers and public health agencies. Not only the presence of GA, particularly in the form of ,-solanine and ,-chaconine, but also the changes occurring as a result of various post-harvest handling practices and storage, are critical issues influencing the quality of stored potatoes. Studies on various factors (pre-harvest, during harvest and post-harvest) affecting GA have been carried out from time to time, but it is difficult to compare the results of one study with another due to wide variation in the parameters chosen. This review aims to develop a clear understanding of these issues. Published information on the types of GA, their effects on health, their typical concentrations in potatoes, their formation mechanisms, and how their levels can be controlled by following appropriate post harvest practices and storage regimes are critically analysed. The levels of GA in potato can be controlled effectively by adopting appropriate post-harvest practices. Further studies are necessary, however, to investigate best practices, which either check completely or retard substantially their formation. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Weight monitoring of breastfed babies in the UK , centile charts, scales and weighing frequencyMATERNAL & CHILD NUTRITION, Issue 2 2005Magda Sachs ba, ma (cantab) Abstract Weighing infants during their first 6 months is an important focus of growth monitoring and a common activity of child health care services worldwide. In these same months, health workers provide support for breastfeeding and promote continued exclusive breastfeeding. The literature on the practice of weighing breastfed babies is reviewed, as it applies to the United Kingdom. The shape of the growth curves for breastfed babies differs from that of formula-fed infants and also from centile charts previously in use. The World Health Organization commitment to the production of a new growth reference has generated discussion of the implications of charts in use. The country-specific charts in use in the UK are examined and the data used to construct them discussed with reference to clinical use for breastfed infants. Recent UK discussions on charts, as well as on the frequency of routine weighing for babies in the community are considered, and the available evidence on the accuracy of weighing in practice is noted. The choices made in constructing different charts; the physical condition of scales and their use in practice have implications for plotted growth. This paper aims to present a wide range of evidence available in this area in order to encourage debate on practice. A companion paper will discuss issues of interpretation, conveying information to parents, and interventions. [source] Australian children at risk of social exclusion: a spatial index for gauging relative disadvantagePOPULATION, SPACE AND PLACE (PREVIOUSLY:-INT JOURNAL OF POPULATION GEOGRAPHY), Issue 2 2010Robert Tanton Abstract Multidimensional measures of disadvantage, such as social exclusion, are increasingly becoming an important focus of research into poverty and disadvantage. This paper describes the development of an Australian regional index of child social exclusion. Using data from the 2001 Census of Population and Housing, we use principal components analysis to produce an aggregate measure of social exclusion risk for children aged 0,15, and for subgroups of children aged 0,4 and 5,15. Initial analysis of the indexes provides some tentative evidence of spatial patterns in the geographical distribution of child social exclusion, including a greater risk of child social exclusion in rural areas of Australia. This article outlines one of the first examples internationally of the construction of a small-area index of social exclusion specifically tailored towards children. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Risk factors for preterm, low birth weight and small for gestational age birth in urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in TownsvilleAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 2 2006Katie Panaretto Objectives: To assess the characteristics of Indigenous births and to examine the risk factors for preterm (<37 weeks), low birth weight (<2,500 g) and small for gestational age (SGA) births in a remote urban setting. Design: Prospective cohort of singleton births to women attending Townsville Aboriginal and Islander Health Services (TAIHS) for shared antenatal care between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2003. Main outcome measures: Demographic, obstetric, and antenatal care characteristics are described. Risk factors for preterm birth, low birth weight and SGA births are assessed. Results: The mean age of the mothers was 25.0 years (95% Cl 24.5,25.5), 15.8% reported hazardous or harmful alcohol use, 15.1% domestic violence, 30% had an inter-pregnancy interval of less than 12 months and 9.2% an unwanted pregnancy. The prevalence of infection was 50.2%. Predictors of preterm birth were a previous preterm birth, low body mass index (BMI) and inadequate antenatal care, with the subgroup at greatest risk of preterm birth being women with a previous preterm birth and infection in the current pregnancy. Predictors of a low birth weight birth were a previous stillbirth, low BMI and an interaction of urine infection and non-Townsville residence; predictors of an SGA birth were tobacco use, pregnancy-induced hypertension and interaction of urine infection and harmful alcohol use. Conclusion: The prevalence of demographic and clinical risk factors is high in this group of urban Indigenous women. Strategies addressing potentially modifiable risk factors should be an important focus of antenatal care delivery to Indigenous women and may represent an opportunity to improve perinatal outcome in Indigenous communities in Australia. [source] 2-Acylaminopyridin-4-ylimidazoles as p38 MAP Kinase Inhibitors: Design, Synthesis, and Biological and Metabolic EvaluationsCHEMMEDCHEM, Issue 11 2009Katharina Ziegler Dr. Abstract Targeting cytokines has become an important focus in the treatment of many inflammatory disorders. p38 MAP kinase (MAPK) is the key enzyme in regulating the biosynthesis and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1, and TNF,. Inhibition of p38 MAPK results in decreased expression of these cytokines. Tri- and tetrasubstituted pyridinylimidazoles are potent inhibitors of p38 MAPK. Substitution on the pyridinyl moiety allows the design of inhibitors that show increased selectivity and activity by targeting the enzyme's hydrophobic region,II. The objective of this study was to synthesize novel 1,2,4,5-tetrasubstituted imidazole derivates and to characterize them not only for their ability to inhibit p38 MAPK and modulate cytokine release in human whole blood, but also to evaluate their metabolic stability. Biological data and metabolic studies demonstrate that the introduction of a 2-acylamino function at C2 of the pyridine results in highly efficient and metabolically stable inhibitors relative to C2-alkylamino derivatives. A series of novel candidates was investigated for metabolic stability in human liver microsomes and in human whole blood. Additionally, metabolic S-oxidation was investigated, and possible metabolites were synthesized. [source] | |||||||||||||