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Integration
Kinds of Integration Terms modified by Integration Selected Abstracts043.06 VESTIBULAR INTEGRATION CONTRIBUTES TO THE REPRESENTATION OF SPACEEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 9 2000J. Ventre-Dominey No abstract is available for this article. [source] ANGLES OF INTEGRATION: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ALIGNMENT OF INTERNET-BASED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATIONJOURNAL OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2010JÖRN-HENRIK THUN This paper investigates the relationship between the focus and implementation degree of Internet-based information technology (IT) applications and the scope and orientation of process-oriented integration in global supply chains. Using data from 205 plants, which were collected in conjunction with the High Performance Manufacturing project, the degree of supplier and customer integration and its match with the implemented IT instruments supporting interorganizational collaboration are investigated empirically. Different types of integration are differentiated from each other with the help of factor, percentile and cluster analyses. The focus and degree of IT integration is measured for each of the resulting groups and the alignment of both aspects is analyzed with the help of an approach referred to as the angles of integration. With respect to supply chain integration and IT implementation, the analysis of different integration strategies shows that most of the plants do not align their IT implementation with their supply chain strategy. The paper helps companies to evaluate the alignment of their use of IT techniques with their global supply chain management emphases. Additionally, possible reasons for a potential missmatch of functional strategies are discussed giving managers insights for dealing more effectively with a strategic alignment. Furthermore, it refines an existing framework for the comparison of different supply chain integration strategies and applies it with IT. Based on the angles of integration, the match of supply chain integration and IT is investigated by statistical analyses. [source] INCOME DISTRIBUTION, TECHNICAL CHANGE AND THE DYNAMICS OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC INTEGRATIONMETROECONOMICA, Issue 1 2007Michael A. Landesmann ABSTRACT This paper explores the features of a dynamic multisectoral model that focuses on the relationship between income distribution, growth and international specialization. The model is explored both for the steady-state properties and the transitory dynamics of integrated economies. Income inequality affects the patterns of growth and international specialization as the model uses non-linear Engel curves and hence different income groups are characterized by different expenditure patterns. At the same time income distribution is also reflected in the relative wage rates of skilled to unskilled workers, i.e. the skill premium, and hence the wage structure affects comparative costs of industries which have different skill intensities. The model is applied to a situation that analyses qualitatively different economic development strategies of catching-up economies (a ,Latin American' scenario and a ,East Asian' scenario). [source] A MULTILEVEL INTEGRATION OF PERSONALITY, CLIMATE, SELF-REGULATION, AND PERFORMANCEPERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2006CRAIG WALLACE The purpose of this multilevel study was to test whether regulatory focus mechanisms (promotion focus and prevention focus; Higgins, 1997, American Psychologist, 52, 1280,1300; Higgins, 2000, American Psychologist, 55, 1217,1230) can help explain how group safety climate and individual differences in Conscientiousness relate to individual productivity and safety performance. Results, based on a sample of 254 employees from 50 work groups, showed that safety climate and conscientiousness predicted promotion and prevention regulatory focus, which in turn mediated the relationships of safety climate and Conscientiousness with supervisor ratings of productivity and safety performance. Implications for theory and research on climate, motivation, and performance and avenues for future research are discussed. [source] TOWARD AN UNDERSTANDING OF EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION CLAIMING: AN INTEGRATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL JUSTICE AND SOCIAL INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORIESPERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2001BARRY M. GOLDMAN This research examines predictors of actual discrimination claiming among terminated workers by investigating a number of variables suggested by organizational justice and social information processing theories. This study investigated initial decisions to claim in a sample of 439 terminated workers who were surveyed at several unemployment offices. Logistic regression was used to examine how the decision to claim for discrimination was affected by procedural and distributive justice, social guidance, minority status, gender, age, tenure, and education. All of the variables except education and gender were found to be significant. Thus, the results support variables from each of the theories. Social guidance was found to have a major influence on discrimination-claiming. A counter-intuitive finding for minority status was found such that Whites were more likely to claim than minorities. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [source] POLICY-LEARNING AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY INTEGRATION IN THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY, 1973,2003PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 2 2010PETER H. FEINDT This article uses the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) (Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith 1999; Weible and Sabatier 2007) and a refined version of the social learning approach of Peter Hall (1993) to assess and explain policy change in the Common (Agricultural) Policy (CAP) with a special view on Environmental Policy Integration (EPI). Three stages of EPI are discerned that move from central to vertical and later horizontal EPI, complementing an impact model of agriculture and the environment with a public goods model. Reform debates appear as prolonged and iterative battles over the institutionalization of new ideas which are finally incorporated into the existing policy framework. The policy network increasingly reflects cross-policy interdependencies and includes superior authorities, rendering the notion of a policy subsystem problematic. Contrary to the social learning model, the major (although not the most radical) change proponent dominates the policy community while superior authorities tend to intervene on behalf of the status quo. The argument is developed on the base of interviews with policy-makers in Brussels. [source] STRATEGIC VERTICAL INTEGRATION WITHOUT FORECLOSURE,THE JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2008E. AVENEL Merger waves; vertical integration; vertical foreclosure We determine the endogenous degree of vertical integration in a model of successive oligopoly that captures both efficiency gains and strategic effects. Foreclosure effects are purposely left aside. The profitability of integration originates in the greater ability of integrated firms to adopt a specific type of technologies. We show that vertical merger waves can stop by themselves before integration is complete because of strategic substitutability in vertical integration. This is in contrast to the strategic complementarity result in McLaren [2000] that leads to either complete integration or complete separation. [source] INTEGRATION OF PROSPECTIVE QUALITY OF LIFE AND NUTRITIONAL ASSESSMENT AS ROUTINE COMPONENTS OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY CARE OF PATIENTS WITH HEAD AND NECK CANCERANZ JOURNAL OF SURGERY, Issue 1-2 2008Justine Oates Background: Quality of life (QOL) and nutritional assessment of patients with head and neck cancer can provide additional information about the effects of treatment beyond the standard measures of disease control and survival. Integrating a prospective evaluation program into a multidisciplinary service may ensure that a more holistic model of care is developed. Methods: Prospective evaluation of QOL and nutrition before and after treatment for head and neck cancer was implemented in 2001. All patients enrolled in the program were treated with curative intent. Patients completed the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core QOL Questionnaire and Head and Neck Specific Module before treatment and at 3, 6 and 12 months after completion of therapy. In conjunction, patients underwent nutritional assessment by body mass index, biochemical parameters and the patient-generated subjective global assessment tool. Results: Among 288 patients who consented to participate in this study, 134 patients completed the QOL assessment criteria and were eligible for evaluation. Examples of QOL and nutritional data for patients with cancers of the oral cavity, oropharynx, nasopharynx, larynx, hypopharynx, parotid gland and paranasal sinus, and also unknown primary cancers are given. Implementation of this prospective assessment program required appropriate resources and was hampered by time constraints, logistics with blood tests and patient compliance. Conclusions: Despite difficulties with implementation, the information concerning QOL and nutritional status obtained in this study provided an appreciation of the long-term functional effects of treatment for head and neck cancer. Prospective QOL assessment and nutritional evaluation should become integral components of the care of patients with cancers of the head and neck. [source] THE CLOSED-LOOP EFFECTS OF MARKET INTEGRATION IN A DYNAMIC DUOPOLYAUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC PAPERS, Issue 1 2010KENJI FUJIWARA This paper develops a dynamic game model of reciprocal dumping to reconsider welfare effects of market integration, i.e. reductions in transport costs. We show that welfare under trade is unambiguously less than welfare under autarky for any level of transport costs, which is impossible in static models where trade is profitable if the transport cost is low enough. This is because the negative effect through closed-loop property of feedback strategies dominates the positive effects. [source] ARE CHINESE STOCK MARKETS INCREASING INTEGRATION WITH OTHER MARKETS IN THE GREATER CHINA REGION AND OTHER MAJOR MARKETS?AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC PAPERS, Issue 3 2007GARY GANG TIAN This paper investigates the cointegrating and long-term causal relationships between the Shanghai A and B-share market, and between these two markets and the Hong Kong, the Taiwanese, the Japanese and the US market of two sub periods between July 1993 and March 2007. On the basis of a new Granger non-causality test procedure developed by Toda-Yamamoto (1995) and Johansen's (1988) cointegration test, my results suggest that a long-term equilibrium relationship measured by cointegration has been merged between the Chinese A-share market and the other markets in greater China region as well as the US market during the post-crisis period which covers the period since Chinese A-share market was opened to the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII) in 2002. I also found that the Shanghai A-share market uni-directionally Granger-causes the other regional markets after the Asian financial crisis, while the A-share market and Hong Kong H-share market have had a significant feedback relationship since then. However, I found no evidence there has been cointegrating relationship between Shanghai B-share market and any other market ever since the B-share market was opened to the local retail investors in 2001. [source] INTEGRATION IN PSYCHOTHERAPY: AN EVOLVING REALITY IN PERSONALITY DISORDERBRITISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHOTHERAPY, Issue 2 2000Anthony W Bateman ABSTRACT Psychotherapy continues to be bedevilled by ideological schisms with practitioners apparently ignoring alternative conceptualizations and potentially superior interventions. However, I argue here that there is evidence of a rapprochement, both in theory and in practice, between cognitive therapy and psychoanalytic therapy, especially within the domain of personality disorder, which may lead to the development of integrative psychotherapy. Cognitive therapy has begun to encompass an interpersonal approach within its theoretical base. Similarly, psychoanalytic therapy increasingly uses an interpersonal formulation of the process of therapy. The therapeutic alliance is emphasized equally and process research suggests that interventions, when given by experienced practitioners, are not as dissimilar as,brand-named' therapies imply. Continued refinement of process psychotherapy research could lead to true integration of efficacious therapeutic interventions. But translating research findings into practice will necessitate psychotherapists opening themselves up to each others' ideas. [source] MULTIPLE LEVELS OF SENSORY INTEGRATION IN THE INTRINSIC SENSORY NEURONS OF THE ENTERIC NERVOUS SYSTEMCLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PHARMACOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 11 2004Paul P Bertrand SUMMARY 1.,The enteric nervous system (ENS) is present in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract and contains all the functional classes of neuron required for complete reflex arcs. One of the most important and intriguing classes of neuron is that responsive to sensory stimuli: sensory neurons with cell bodies intrinsic to the ENS. 2.,These neurons have three outstanding and interrelated features: (i) reciprocal connections with each other; (ii) a slow excitatory post-synaptic potential (EPSP) resulting from high-speed firing in other sensory neurons; and (iii) a large after-hyperpolarizing potential (AHP) at the soma. Slow EPSP depolarize the cell body, generate action potentials (APs) and reduce the AHP. Conversely, the AHP limits the firing rate and, hence, reduces transmission of slow EPSP. 3.,Processing of sensory information starts at the input terminals as different patterns of APs depending on the sensory modality and recent sensory history. At the soma, the ability to fire APs and, hence, drive outputs is also strongly determined by the recent firing history of the neuron (through the AHP) and network activity (through the slow EPSP). Positive feedback within the population of intrinsic sensory neurons means that the network is able to drive outputs well beyond the duration of the stimuli that triggered them. 4.,Thus, sensory input and subsequent reflex generation are integrated over several hierarchical levels within the network on intrinsic sensory neurons. [source] Immersive Integration of Physical and Virtual EnvironmentsCOMPUTER GRAPHICS FORUM, Issue 3 2004Henry Fuchs We envision future work and play environments in which the user's computing interface is more closely integrated with the physical surroundings than today's conventional computer display screens and keyboards. We are working toward realizable versions of such environments, in which multiple video projectors and digital cameras enable every visible surface to be both measured in 3D and used for display. If the 3D surface positions were transmitted to a distant location, they may also enable distant collaborations to become more like working in adjacent offices connected by large windows. With collaborators at the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, Advanced Network and Services, and the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, we at Chapel Hill have been working to bring these ideas to reality. In one system, depth maps are calculated from streams of video images and the resulting 3D surface points are displayed to the user in head-tracked stereo. Among the applications we are pursuing for this tele-presence technology, is advanced training for trauma surgeons by immersive replay of recorded procedures. Other applications display onto physical objects, to allow more natural interaction with them "painting" a dollhouse, for example. More generally, we hope to demonstrate that the principal interface of a future computing environment need not be limited to a screen the size of one or two sheets of paper. Just as a useful physical environment is all around us, so too can the increasingly ubiquitous computing environment be all around us -integrated seamlessly with our physical surroundings. [source] Integration of General Sparse Matrix and Parallel Computing Technologies for Large,Scale Structural AnalysisCOMPUTER-AIDED CIVIL AND INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING, Issue 6 2002Hsien Hsieh, Shang Both general sparse matrix and parallel computing technologies are integrated in this study as a finite element solution of large,scale structural problems in a PC cluster environment. The general sparse matrix technique is first employed to reduce execution time and storage requirements for solving the simultaneous equilibrium equations in finite element analysis. To further reduce the time required for large,scale structural analyses, two parallel processing approaches for sharing computational workloads among collaborating processors are then investigated. One approach adopts a publicly available parallel equation solver, called SPOOLES, to directly solve the sparse finite element equations, while the other employs a parallel substructure method for the finite element solution. This work focuses more on integrating the general sparse matrix technique and the parallel substructure method for large,scale finite element solutions. Additionally, numerical studies have been conducted on several large,scale structural analyses using a PC cluster to investigate the effectiveness of the general sparse matrix and parallel computing technologies in reducing time and storage requirements in large,scale finite element structural analyses. [source] Plug-and-play remote portlet publishingCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 12 2007X. D. Wang Abstract Web Services for Remote Portlets (WSRP) is gaining attention among portal developers and vendors to enable easy development, increased richness in functionality, pluggability, and flexibility of deployment. Whilst currently not supporting all WSRP functionalities, open-source portal frameworks could in future use WSRP Consumers to access remote portlets found from a WSRP Producer registry service. This implies that we need a central registry for the remote portlets and a more expressive WSRP Consumer interface to implement the remote portlet functions. This paper reports on an investigation into a new system architecture, which includes a Web Services repository, registry, and client interface. The Web Services repository holds portlets as remote resource producers. A new data structure for expressing remote portlets is found and published by populating a Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) registry. A remote portlet publish and search engine for UDDI has also been developed. Finally, a remote portlet client interface was developed as a Web application. The client interface supports remote portlet features, as well as window status and mode functions. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Teaching the Fuzzy Front End of Innovation: Experimenting with Team Learning and Cross-Organizational IntegrationCREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2009Miia Martinsuo How can the extremely uncertain front end of innovation , managing the fuzzy front end , be taught to graduate students? This paper describes and analyses experiments with experiential, problem-based learning focused on the front end of innovation. The focus is on the learning and cross-organizational integration of student teams; factors that have been identified as central to the success of teams involved in the front end of innovation. An experiential course, ,From an idea to a business plan in product development', was developed in conjunction with an actual company, and piloted with four student groups in 2007 and 2008. Data on this novel course were collected through participant observation, team self-assessment and questionnaires. This paper reports favourable results for the effectiveness of the course design; it discusses the impact of team size and cross-organizational team composition on team performance; and identifies the implications for teaching the front end of innovation. [source] The Decision of the Supply Chain Executive to Support or Impede Supply Chain Integration: A Multidisciplinary Behavioral Agency Perspective,DECISION SCIENCES, Issue 4 2009Verónica H. Villena ABSTRACT Applying the behavioral agency model developed by Wiseman and Gomez-Mejia (1998), this article analyzes human resource factors that induce supply chain executives (SCEs) to make decisions that foster or hinder supply chain integration. We examine two internal sources (compensation and employment risk) and one external source (environmental volatility) of risk bearing that can make SCEs more reluctant to make the decision to promote supply chain integration. We argue and empirically confirm the notion that an employment and compensation system that increases SCE risk bearing reduces the SCE's willingness to make risky decisions and thus discourages supply chain integration. We also reveal that this negative relationship becomes stronger under conditions of high environmental volatility. In addressing the "so what?" question, we found empirical support for the hypothesis that supply chain integration positively influences operational performance. Even though this decision has a positive value for the firm, we showed that SCEs discourage supply chain integration when they face higher risk bearing. Hypotheses are tested using a combination of primary survey data and archival measures in a sample of 133 Spanish firms. [source] Manufacturing Practices and Strategy Integration: Effects on Cost Efficiency, Flexibility, and Market-Based PerformanceDECISION SCIENCES, Issue 3 2005Morgan Swink ABSTRACT Manufacturing plant managers have sought performance improvements through implementing best practices discussed in World Class Manufacturing literature. However, our collective understanding of linkages between practices and performance remains incomplete. This study seeks a more complete theory, advancing the idea that strategy integration and enhanced manufacturing capabilities such as cost efficiency and flexibility serve as intermediaries by which practices affect performance. Hypotheses related to this thesis are tested using data from 57 North American manufacturing plants that are past winners and finalists in Industry Week's"America's Best" competition (Drickhamer, 2001). The results suggest that strategy integration plays a strong, central role in the creation of manufacturing cost efficiency and new product flexibility capabilities. Furthermore, strategy integration moderates the influences of product-process development, supplier relationship management, workforce development, just-in-time flow, and process quality management practices on certain manufacturing capabilities. In turn, manufacturing cost efficiency and new product flexibility capabilities mediate the influence of strategy integration on market-based performance. These findings have implications for practice and for future research. [source] The Value of Production Schedule Integration in Supply ChainsDECISION SCIENCES, Issue 4 2001Lee Krajewski Abstract This study explores the value of integrated production schedules for reducing the negative effects of schedule revisions in supply chains involving buyer and supplier firms. A stochastic cost model is developed to evaluate the total supply chain cost with integrated purchasing and scheduling policies. The model minimizes the costs associated with assembly rate adjustment, safety stock, and schedule changes for all supply chain members. Through experimentation, the paper examines the impact of several environmental factors on the value of schedule integration. This study finds that schedule integration can lead to overall cost savings in a supply chain, but some firms may have to absorb costs in excess of those they would incur with independent scheduling. Environments with high inventory holding costs and long supplier lead times may not find it beneficial to adopt an integrated schedule. Forecast effectiveness plays a critical role in realizing the benefits of schedule integration. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research. [source] Classroom Integration of Statistics and Management Science Via ForecastingDECISION SCIENCES JOURNAL OF INNOVATIVE EDUCATION, Issue 2 2006M. David Albritton First page of article [source] Tissue Integration of Polyacrylamide Hydrogel: An Experimental Study of Periurethral, Perivesical, and Mammary Gland Tissue in the PigDERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 2008DMSC, LISE H. CHRISTENSEN MD BACKGROUND Polyacrylamide hydrogel (PAAG) is a nondegradable water-based polymer with high viscoelasticity. The gel is used as a tissue filler, the only risk being prolonged infection with anaerobic, contaminating microorganisms if not treated early with broad-spectrum antibiotics. OBJECTIVE With silicone gel as reference, PAAG tissue integration and migration was studied in a longitudinal study of the pig. MATERIALS AND METHODS Forty-one pigs were used. PAAG and silicone gel were injected into mammary tissue, and PAAG was injected into urethral or bladder wall or the anal canal. Tissues and regional lymph nodes were examined at 1, 1 1/2, 3, 3 1/2, 6, 12, and 14 months, and other lymph nodes and organs were examined at 1, 6, 12, and 14 months. RESULTS PAAG was invaded by macrophages and giant cells that were gradually replaced by a network of fibrous tissue. Silicone gel was seen inside these cells or as large vacuoles, surrounded by a fibrous capsule. Regional lymph nodes contained PAAG only at 1 1/2 months and silicone gel at 12 months. CONCLUSION PAAG is a stable, viscoelastic bulking agent, which unlike silicone gel is slowly integrated within its host tissue via a thin fibrous network. Long-term risk of fibrosis and migration is minimal. [source] Design Integration: A Business ImperativeDESIGN MANAGEMENT REVIEW, Issue 3 2009Thomas Lockwood PhD No abstract is available for this article. [source] Brand Integration: Total Image ManagementDESIGN MANAGEMENT REVIEW, Issue 2 2000Jean - Léon Bouchenoire First page of article [source] Hierarchical Integration: The Dollar Economy and the Rupee EconomyDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 2 2008Anirudh Krishna ABSTRACT While contemporary globalization makes the world more interconnected, it also reworks and builds on existing cleavages and uneven development. This is an under-researched dimension of the emerging twenty-first century international division of labour. The core question is whether new developments (associated with exports, offshoring and outsourcing) spin off to the majority in the countryside and the urban poor. This article examines the relationship between the dollar economy and the rupee economy in India. It documents the ways in which inequality is built into and sustains India's development. The authors discuss other instances of multi-speed economies and analytics that seek to come to grips with these relations, from combined and uneven development to global value chains. They present three ways of capturing contemporary inequality: asymmetric inclusion, enlargement-and-containment and hierarchical integration, each of which captures different dimensions of inequality. [source] Pro-Poor Modes of Technical Integration into the Global EconomDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 4 2000Jeffrey James Recent evidence indicates that globalization based on technical advances in information technology is creating a dualistic situation in the world economy, whereby the benefits tend to accrue to a narrow group of relatively affluent countries, while the majority lag behind. The purpose of this article is to suggest a framework within which to assess an alternative, pro-poor form of technical integration into the global economy , in other words, a form of globalization that benefits the poor as well as the rich. The article focuses particularly on the role that can be played by NGOs, aid donors and national governments in this endeavour. [source] Market Liberalisation, Vertical Integration and Price Behaviour in Tanzania's Coffee AuctionDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 2 2001Anna A. Temu Whether market liberalisation can promote agricultural development in Africa depends on how well existing institutions can facilitate trade by private agents. This article assesses the performance of the Tanzania coffee marketing system after liberalisation and the emergence of private, vertically integrated exporters (VIEs). Increasing producer prices, declining marketing margins, and the continued provision of a useful auction for coffee that is delivered by traders who are not VIEs all suggest a degree of success for liberalisation. The presence of VIEs seems to have provided investment to reduce marketing costs, whilst a sufficient number of competing firms has limited non-competitive behaviour in the market for coffee that is traded at the auction by non-VIEs. [source] Integration of diverse inputs in the regulation of Caenorhabditis elegans DAF-16/FOXODEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS, Issue 5 2010Jessica N. Landis Abstract In a remarkably conserved insulin signaling pathway that is well-known for its regulation of longevity in worms, flies, and mammals, the major C. elegans effector of this pathway, DAF-16/FOXO, also modulates many other physiological processes. This raises the question of how DAF-16/FOXO chooses the correct targets to achieve the appropriate response in a particular context. Here, we review current knowledge of tissue-specificity and interacting partners that modulate DAF-16/FOXO functional output. Developmental Dynamics 239:1405,1412, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Integration and differentiation of human embryonic stem cells transplanted to the chick embryoDEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS, Issue 1 2002Ronald S. Goldstein Abstract Human embryonic stem (ES) cells are pluripotent cells that can differentiate into a large array of cell types and, thus, hold promise for advancing our understanding of human embryology and for contributing to transplantation medicine. In this study, differentiation of human ES cells was examined in vivo by in ovo transplantation to organogenesis-stage embryos. Colonies of human ES cells were grafted into or in place of epithelial-stage somites of chick embryos of 1.5 to 2 days of development. The grafted human ES cells survived in the chick host and were identified by vital staining with carboxyfluorescein diacetate or use of a green fluorescent protein,expressing cells. Histologic analysis showed that human ES cells are easily distinguished from host cells by their larger, more intensely staining nuclei. Some grafted cells differentiated en masse into epithelia, whereas others migrated and mingled with host tissues, including the dorsal root ganglion. Colonies grafted directly adjacent to the host neural tube produced primarily structures with the morphology and molecular characteristics of neural rosettes. These structures contain differentiated neurons as shown by ,-3-tubulin and neurofilament expression in axons and cell bodies. Axons derived from the grafted cells penetrate the host nervous system, and host axons enter the structures derived from the graft. Our results show that human ES cells transplanted in ovo survive, divide, differentiate, and integrate with host tissues and that the host embryonic environment may modulate their differentiation. The chick embryo, therefore, may serve as an accessible and unique experimental system for the study of in vivo development of human ES cells. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Are the cognitive functions of children with Down syndrome related to their participation?DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 1 2010TANYA RIHTMAN Aim, There is a lack of investigation into the functional developmental profile of children with Down syndrome. On the basis of current international health paradigms, the purpose of this study was to assess the developmental profile of these children. Method, Sixty children (33 males, 27 females) with Down syndrome (age range 6,16y; mean age 9y 3mo, SD 28.8mo), who had received standard, holistic, early intervention, were assessed. Of these, 42 (70%) had congenital anomalies, 12 had severe congenital heart defects. Participants were assessed on measures of cognitive function (Beery,Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual,Motor Integration; Stanford,Binet Intelligence Scale) and participation (Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales). Results, No difference was found on any measure on the basis of severity of congenital anomaly. Results showed improvements in age-related body function and correlations between specific body functions and participation. No decline in IQ was found with age, and significant correlations between IQ and all other measures were noted. Although sex differences were found in the body functions of short-term memory and motor function, no difference in measures of activity performance and participation was found. Interpretation, Our findings emphasize the need for paediatric Down syndrome intervention to encourage improved body functions while emphasizing the acquisition of functional skills that enable enhanced participation in age-appropriate activities. [source] Abnormalities in the coordination of respiration and swallow in preterm infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasiaDEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 7 2006Ira H Gewolb MD Individual rhythms of suck, swallow, and respiration are disrupted in preterm infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Integration of respiration into suck-swallow efforts is critical for establishing coordinated suckle feeding. This study quantitatively assessed the coordination of respiration and swallow in infants with and without BPD. Thirty-four preterm infants of 26 to 33 weeks'gestational age were included: 14 participants with BPD (eight males, six females) and 20 comparison participants without BDP (10 males, 10 females). Participants were studied at postmenstrual age 32 to 40 weeks and postnatal age 2 to 12 weeks using digital recordings of pharyngeal pressure, nasal thermistor flow, and thoraco-abdominal plethysmography. The coefficients of variation (COV; standard deviation/mean) of the swallow-breath (SW-BR) and breath-breath (BR-BR) intervals during swallow runs, the percentage of,apneic swallows'(runs of ,3 swallows without interposed breaths), and phase relationships of respiration and swallow were used to quantify rhythmic coordination and integration of respiration into feeding episodes. Apneic swallows were significantly increased after 35 weeks in infants with BPD (mean 13.4% [SE 2.4]) compared with non-BDP infants (6.7% [SE 1.8];p < 0.05), as were SW-BR phase relationships involving apnea. The BPD cohort also had significantly higher SW-BR COV and BR-BR COV than non-BPD infants, indicating less rhythmic coordination of swallowing and respiration during feeding. Results emphasize the need for frequent rests and closer monitoring when feeding infants with respiratory compromise. Quantitative assessment of the underlying rhythms involved in feeding may be predictive of longer-term feeding and neurological problems. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||