The gas vesicles, buoyancy and vertical distribution of cyanobacteria in the Baltic Sea

The mean pressures required to collapse gas vesicles in turgid cells of cyanobacteria from the Baltic Sea were 0·91 MPa (9·1 bar) in Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, 0·83 MPa in Nodularia sp. collected from the main deep basins and 0·34 MPa in Nodularia from shallower coastal regions. The gas vesicles were strong enough to withstand the depth of winter mixing, down to the permanent halocline (60 m in the Bornholm Sea, 90 m in the Eastern Gotland Sea) or to the sea bottom (30 m or less in the shallow Arkona Sea and Mecklenburg Bight). The cyanobacteria had low cell turgor pressures, within the range 0·08–0·18 MPa. The colonies were highly buoyant: the Aphanizomenon colonies floated up at a mean velocity of 22 m per day and the Nodularia colonies at 36 m per day. The colonies remained floating when up to half of the gas vesicles had been collapsed. In summer the cyanobacteria were mostly restricted to the water above the thermocline and in calm conditions their concentration increased towards the top of the water column. A series of colony concentration profiles indicated that, following a deep mixing event, the population of colonies moved upward with a net velocity of 22 m per day, similar to the colony floating velocity. This demonstrated that the buoyancy provided by gas vesicles would give a selective advantage to populations of cyanobacteria by enabling them to float into the higher irradiance of the near-surface water

Phytochemische und biopharmazeutische Untersuchungen an Harpagophytum procumbens DC.

Ein wässriger Extrakt der sekundären Speicherwurzel von der im Südwesten Afrikas beheimateten Teufelskralle (Harpagophytum procumbens DC., Pedaliaceae) wurde zur Isolierung und Identifizierung von Sekundärstoffen phytochemisch untersucht. Hierbei konnten 4 Iridoidglykoside, 3 Phenylethanoidglykoside, 2 Phenolcarbonsäuren und Pagosid, eine den Iridoiden ähnliche Verbindung, isoliert und die Struktur mittels spektroskopischer Methoden aufgeklärt werden. Der Extrakt und einige der Inhaltsstoffe wurden auf ihre antirheumatische Wirksamkeit im Elastase-Testsystem untersucht. In einem Zellkultursystem konnte weiterhin gezeigt werden, dass einige der Elastase-Inhibitoren die Darmepithelschicht passieren können. Untersuchungen des Transportweges ergaben einen passiven Mechanismus

Bony metastases from breast cancer - a study of foetal antigen 2 as a blood tumour marker

Background : Foetal antigen 2 (FA-2), first isolated in the amniotic fluid, was shown to be the circulating form of the aminopropeptide of the alpha 1 chain of procollagen type I. Serum concentrations of FA-2 appeared to be elevated in a number of disorders of bone metabolism. This paper is the first report of its role as a marker of bone metabolism in metastatic breast cancer. Methods: Serum FA-2 concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay in 153 women with different stages of breast cancer and in 34 normal controls. Results: Serum FA-2 was significantly elevated in women with bony metastases (p < 0.015). Its levels were not significantly different among women with non-bony metastases, with non-metastatic disease, as well as among normal controls. Conclusions: FA-2 is a promising blood marker of bone metabolism. Further studies to delineate its role in the diagnosis and management of bony metastases from breast cancer are required

Leading change in academic pharmacy: Report of the 2018-2019 aacp academic affairs committee

© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Delivering an effective drug load to the posterior section of the ocular tissues, while using a non-invasive technique, has always been a challenge. In this regard, the goal of the present study was to develop sustained release triamcinolone acetonide (TA) loaded polymeric matrix films for ocular delivery. The TA-films were prepared in two different polymer matrices, with drug loadings of 10% and 20% w/w, and they were evaluated for ocular distribution in vivo in a conscious rabbit model. A 4% w/v TA suspension (TA-C) was used as a control for in vitro and in vivo studies. The TA-films, prepared with melt-cast technology, used polyethylene oxide (PEO) and Soluplus® as the polymer matrix. The films were evaluated with respect to assay, content uniformity, excipient interaction, and permeability across isolated rabbit sclera. The distribution of TA in the ocular tissues, post topical administration, was determined in New Zealand male albino rabbits as a function of dose, and was compared against TA-C. The assay of the 10% and 20% w/w film was in the range from 70–79% and 92–94% for the Soluplus® and PEO films, respectively, and content uniformity was in the range of 95–103% for both the films. The assay of the TA from Soluplus® films was less compared with the PEO films and showed an interaction with TA, as revealed by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). Hence, Soluplus® films were not selected for further studies. No interaction was observed between the drug and PEO polymer matrix. The enhancement of trans-scleral flux and permeability of TA was about 1.16 and 1.33-folds, respectively, from the 10% w/w PEO and 3.5 and 2.12-folds, respectively, from the 20% w/w PEO films, as compared with TA-C formulations. The in vivo studies demonstrate that significantly higher TA levels were observed in the anterior and posterior segments of the eye at the end of 6h with the PEO films. Therefore, the PEO based polymeric films were able to deliver TA into the back of the eye efficiently and for prolonged periods. View Full-Tex

Re-storying and visualizing the changing entrepreneurial identities of Bill Gates and Richard Branson.

The storytelling in textual and visual re-constructions of Bill Gates and Richard Branson by their organizations produces entrepreneurial identities bound into particular social power-knowledge relations. Our purpose is to examine how these organizations, and their critics, mobilize storytelling in acts of re-storying (enlivening) or re-narrating (branding a monologic) practices using Internet technologies to invite viewers to frame the world of entrepreneurship. We use visual discourse and storytelling methods to analyze how Microsoft and Virgin Group use various kinds of entrepreneurial images and textual narratives to re-narrate and produce particular brands of capitalism. These organizations' scoptic regimes of representation are contested in counter-visualizing and counterstory practices of external stakeholders. We suggest that the image and textual practices of storytelling have changed as both entrepreneurs court philanthropic and social entrepreneur identity markers. Our contribution to entrepreneurial identity is to apply double and multiple narrations, the appropriation of another's narrative words (or images) into another's narrative, and relate such storytelling moves to visuality

Towards a Butlerian methodology: undoing organizational performativity through anti-narrative research

This article explores the methodological possibilities that Butler’s theory of performativity opens up, attempting to ‘translate’ her theoretical ideas into research practice. Specifically, it considers how research on organizational subjectivity premised upon a performative ontology might be undertaken. It asks: What form might a Butler-inspired methodology take? What methodological opportunities might it afford for developing self-reflexive research? What political and ethical problems might it pose for organizational researchers, particularly in relation to the challenges associated with power asymmetries, and the risks attached to ‘fixing’ subjects within the research process? The article outlines and evaluates a method described as ‘anti-narrative’ interviewing, arguing that it constitutes a potentially valuable methodological resource for researchers interested in understanding how and why idealized organizational subjectivities are formed and sustained. It further advances the in-roads that Butler’s writing has made into organization studies, thinking through the methodological and ethical implications of her work for understanding the performative constitution of organizational subjectivities. The aim of the paper is to advocate a research practice premised upon a reflexive undoing of organizational subjectivities and the normative conditions upon which they depend. It concludes by emphasizing the potential benefits and wider implications of a methodologically reflexive undoing of organizational performativity

Paradoxes of creativity : examining the creative process through an antenarrative lens

Accounts of the creative process tend to be retrospective and implicitly ground the creative act within the person, the mind, the moment, the idea; in doing so, they often miss the larger sociomaterial qualities that can provide us with important insights about the social relationality and playfulness of the creative process. In this article, we examine the creative process through an antenarrative lens that we consider very useful for theorizing the creative process from a cultural and sociomaterial perspective. More specifically, we argue that ‘having an idea’ is a contextualized and embodied process that can be regarded as an antenarrative of the overall creative process. We also discuss how the paradoxical relation between the formative and sudden manifestations of the creative act can be understood through the notion of play

Who talks to whom about what? How interdisciplinary communication and knowledge of expertise distribution improves in integrated R&D labs

Although several studies have examined the impact of open workspaces, there is still an on-going debate about its advantages and disadvantages. Our paper contributes to this debate by shedding light on three issues: the effect of open workspaces on (1) the flow of communication along and across hierarchical lines; (2) the content of communication; and (3) the specificities of open integrated laboratories. Our findings derive from a longitudinal case in a large pharmaceutical company that has relocated some R&D teams from enclosed to multi-space offices and labs. The relocation has resulted in (a) increased interdisciplinary communication, particularly at lower hierarchical levels, (b) a shift of the location of discussions and the content of conversations and (c) an improved knowledge about expertise distribution. Practitioner Summary Communication is essential in knowledge-driven organisations. This article examines the impact of a relocation of R&D employees from enclosed to multi-space offices and labs on communication patterns. We explain how the new environment fosters interdisciplinary communication, shifts the location of discussions and increases the knowledge of expertise distribution

Building professional discourse in emerging markets: Language, context and the challenge of sensemaking

Using ethnographic evidence from the former Soviet republics, this article examines a relatively new and mainly unobserved in the International Business (IB) literature phenomenon of communication disengagement that manifests itself in many emerging markets. We link it to the deficiencies of the local professional business discourse rooted in language limitations reflecting lack of experience with the market economy. This hampers cognitive coherence between foreign and local business entities, adding to the liability of foreignness as certain instances of professional experience fail to find adequate linguistic expression, and complicates cross-cultural adjustments causing multi-national companies (MNCs) financial losses. We contribute to the IB literature by examining cross-border semantic sensemaking through a retrospectively constructed observational study. We argue that a relative inadequacy of the national professional idiom is likely to remain a feature of business environment in post-communist economies for some time and therefore should be factored into business strategies of MNCs. Consequently, we recommend including discursive hazards in the risk evaluation of international projects