Making the link: households and small business activity in a multi-ethnic context

The ‘family’ is frequently mentioned in assessments of the apparent distinctiveness of ethnic minority enterprise. Family involvement can account for the ‘success’ of some ethnic groups, and low rates of small business activity in others. Implicitly, such debates are recognition of the importance of the nature of the household and small business. However, few studies in Britain make explicit the link between household dynamics and ethnic minority business activity. This paper examines how households from a variety of ethnic communities impinge upon ‘family’ enterprise operating in the independent restaurant sector. In-depth interviews with family members from 37 micro-business households are drawn upon to illuminate three particular issues: the role of family members in the business; the impact of household dynamics on business activity; and the nature of ‘second-generation’ involvement in the family business. The ? ndings highlight the gendered nature of roles within the micro-business household, and the importance of extended family ties to small business activity. However, the involvement of predominantly second-generation family members could not be regarded as an example of uncomplicated family collectivities at work. Rather, their presence was more a product of limited labour market choices, socialisation, and power relations within the household

Splanchnic and pelvic mechanosensory afferents signal different qualities of colonic stimuli in mice

Background & aimsMechanosensory information from the colon is conducted via lumbar splanchnic nerves (LSN) and sacral pelvic nerves (PN) to the spinal cord. The precise nature of mechanosensory information encoded by each pathway has remained elusive. Here, we characterize and directly compare the properties of mechanosensitive primary afferents from these 2 pathways.MethodsUsing a novel in vitro mouse colon preparation, mechanosensitive primary afferents were recorded from the LSN and PN and distinguished based on their response to receptive field stimulation with 3 distinct mechanical stimuli: probing (70 mg-4 g), circular stretch (1-5 g), and mucosal stroking (10-1000 mg).ResultsFive different classes of afferent were recorded from the LSN and PN. Three of these classes of afferent (serosal, muscular, and mucosal) were conserved between both pathways; however, their respective proportions, receptive field distributions, and response properties differed greatly. In general, these 3 classes of afferent recorded from the PN responded to lower stimulation intensities, displayed greater response magnitudes, and adapted less completely to mechanical stimulation compared with their LSN counterparts. In addition, the LSN and PN each contain a specialized class of afferent (mesenteric and muscular/mucosal), which is unique to their respective pathway.ConclusionsThe splanchnic and pelvic pathways contain distinct populations of mechanosensitive afferents. These afferents are capable of detecting an array of mechanical stimuli and are individually tuned to detect the type, magnitude, and duration of the stimulus. This knowledge contributes to our understanding of the role that these 2 pathways play in conveying mechanical information from the colon

Comparison of neutralizing antibody and cell-mediated immune responses to pandemic H1N1 2009 influenza virus before and after H1N1 2009 influenza vaccination of elderly subjects and healthcare workers

10.1016/j.ijid.2012.04.010International Journal of Infectious Diseases168e621-e627IJID

Activation of the Parasympathetic Nervous System Is Necessary for Normal Meal-Induced Insulin Secretion in Rhesus Macaques1

Meal-induced insulin secretion is thought to be regulated primarily by absorbed nutrients and incretin hormones released from the gastrointestinal tract. In addition, the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is known to mediate preabsorptive, or cephalic phase, insulin secretion. Despite evidence that the PNS remains activated during the absorptive phase of the meal, its role in mediating postprandial insulin secretion has not been established. To study the role of the PNS in absorptive phase insulin release, we measured plasma concentrations of glucose as well as islet hormones and incretins in six healthy rhesus monkeys before and for 60 min after meals while they were infused with saline (control), atropine (muscarinic blockade), or trimethaphan (nicotinic blockade). During the infusion of saline, plasma levels of glucose, pancreatic polypeptide (PP), insulin, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, and glucagon-like peptide-1 increased promptly after meal ingestion and remained elevated throughout the 60 min of the study. The PP response was nearly abolished in animals treated with trimethaphan, indicating functional blockade of PNS input to the islet, and in contrast to the control study, there were minimal changes in plasma concentrations of glucose, incretin hormones, and insulin. Because trimethaphan inhibited glycemic and incretin stimuli in addition to blocking PNS input to the islet, it was not possible to discern the relative roles of these factors in the stimulation of insulin secretion. Atropine also significantly decreased PNS transmission to the islet, as reflected by PP levels similar to those observed with trimethaphan. Unlike the trimethaphan study, plasma glucose levels rose normally during atropine treatment and were similar to those in the control study over the course of the experiments (114 +/- 22 and 132 +/- 23 mmol/L.60 min, respectively). In addition, the rise in plasma glucagon-like peptide-1 following the meal was not suppressed by atropine, and the glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide responses were only modestly decreased. Despite the significant increases in circulating glucose and incretins, plasma insulin levels were greatly attenuated by atropine, so that the 60 min responses were more comparable to those during trimethaphan treatment than to those in the control study (atropine, 3,576 +/- 1,284; trimethaphan, 4,128 +/- 2,616; control, 15,834 +/- 5,586 pmol/L.60 min; P: < 0.05). Thus, muscarinic blockade markedly suppressed the meal-induced insulin response despite normal postprandial glycemia and significant elevations of incretins. These results indicate that activation of the PNS during the absorptive phase of meals contributes significantly to the postprandial insulin secretory response