3,449 research outputs found
Practitioner accounts and knowledge production: an analysis of three marketing discourses
Responding to repeated calls for marketing academicians to connect with marketing actors, we offer an empirically-sourced discourse analysis of the ways in which managers portray their practices. Focusing on the micro-discourses and narratives that marketing actors draw upon to represent their work we argue that dominant representations of marketing knowledge production present a number of critical concerns for marketing theory and marketing education. We also evidence that the often promoted idea of a need to close the gap between theory - as a dominant discourse - and practice, as a way of doing marketing, is problematic to pursue. We suggest that a more fruitful agenda resides in the development of a range of polyphonic and creative micro-discourses of management, promoting context, difference and individual meaning in marketing knowledge production
IFNβ Protects Neurons from Damage in a Murine Model of HIV-1 Associated Brain Injury.
Infection with human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) causes brain injury. Type I interferons (IFNα/β) are critical mediators of any anti-viral immune response and IFNβ has been implicated in the temporary control of lentiviral infection in the brain. Here we show that transgenic mice expressing HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein 120 in their central nervous system (HIVgp120tg) mount a transient IFNβ response and provide evidence that IFNβ confers neuronal protection against HIVgp120 toxicity. In cerebrocortical cell cultures, neuroprotection by IFNβ against gp120 toxicity is dependent on IFNα receptor 1 (IFNAR1) and the β-chemokine CCL4, as IFNAR1 deficiency and neutralizing antibodies against CCL4, respectively, abolish the neuroprotective effects. We find in vivo that IFNβ mRNA is significantly increased in HIVgp120tg brains at 1.5, but not 3 or 6 months of age. However, a four-week intranasal IFNβ treatment of HIVgp120tg mice starting at 3.5 months of age increases expression of CCL4 and concomitantly protects neuronal dendrites and pre-synaptic terminals in cortex and hippocampus from gp120-induced damage. Moreover, in vivo and in vitro data suggests astrocytes are a major source of IFNβ-induced CCL4. Altogether, our results suggest exogenous IFNβ as a neuroprotective factor that has potential to ameliorate in vivo HIVgp120-induced brain injury
Auswirkung der Paraffinmigration auf die freie Oberflächenenergie von Naturkautschuk
Die Auswirkung der Migration von Paraffinwachs auf die freie Oberflächenenergie (Oberflächenspannung) von Naturkautschuk (NR) wurde untersucht. Dazu wurde das Wachs in den Kautschuk eingemischt und die Proben anschließend bis zu 168 h bei Raumtemperatur gelagert, bevor die Oberflächenspannung durch Kontaktwinkelmessungen bestimmt wurde. Mit Hilfe der Sekundärionen-Massenspektrometrie wurden”chemische Fingerabdrücke” der Kautschukoberflächen erstellt. Die Oberflächenspannung verringerte sich mit zunehmender Lagerzeit aufgrund der Wanderung des Wachses an die Oberfläche. Die rascheste Abnahme erfolgte innerhalb der ersten 3 h. Danach verringerte sich die Oberflächenspannung sehr viel langsamer und erreichte nach 48-stündiger Lagerung ein Plateau. Durch die Migration des Wachses an die Oberfläche verringerte sich die Oberflächenspannung insgesamt um ca. 46 %. Die Verringerung der Oberflächenspannung beeinflusst nachteilig die Möglichkeit des Kautschuks zur Bindung mit sich selbst oder mit anderen Elastomeren. The effect of the migration of paraffin wax on the surface free energy of natural rubber (NR) was investigated. The rubber was mixed with the wax and then stored at ambient temperature for up to 168 hrs before its surface free energy was measured using contact angle measurement. Static secondary ion mass spectrometry was also used to provide a chemical fingerprint of the rubber surfaces. The surface free energy decreased as a function of storage time because of the migration of the wax to the rubber surface. The highest rate of reduction was recorded up to 3 hrs and thereafter, the surface free energy decreased at a much slower rate, reaching a plateau after 48 hrs in storage. In total, the surface free energy reduced by approximately 46 % as a result of the migration of the wax to the rubber surface. The reduction in surface free energy could adversely affect ability of the rubber to stick to itself and to other dissimilar elastomers
GAMA: towards a physical understanding of galaxy formation
The Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) project is the latest in a tradition of
large galaxy redshift surveys, and is now underway on the 3.9m Anglo-Australian
Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory. GAMA is designed to map extragalactic
structures on scales of 1kpc - 1Mpc in complete detail to a redshift of z~0.2,
and to trace the distribution of luminous galaxies out to z~0.5. The principal
science aim is to test the standard hierarchical structure formation paradigm
of Cold Dark Matter (CDM) on scales of galaxy groups, pairs, discs, bulges and
bars. We will measure (1) the Dark Matter Halo Mass Function (as inferred from
galaxy group velocity dispersions); (2) baryonic processes, such as star
formation and galaxy formation efficiency (as derived from Galaxy Stellar Mass
Functions); and (3) the evolution of galaxy merger rates (via galaxy close
pairs and galaxy asymmetries). Additionally, GAMA will form the central part of
a new galaxy database, which aims to contain 275,000 galaxies with
multi-wavelength coverage from coordinated observations with the latest
international ground- and space-based facilities: GALEX, VST, VISTA, WISE,
HERSCHEL, GMRT and ASKAP. Together, these data will provide increased depth
(over 2 magnitudes), doubled spatial resolution (0.7"), and significantly
extended wavelength coverage (UV through Far-IR to radio) over the main SDSS
spectroscopic survey for five regions, each of around 50 deg^2. This database
will permit detailed investigations of the structural, chemical, and dynamical
properties of all galaxy types, across all environments, and over a 5 billion
year timeline.Comment: GAMA overview which appeared in the October 2009 issue of Astronomy &
Geophysics, ref: Astron.Geophys. 50 (2009) 5.1
Letrozole in the neoadjuvant setting: the P024 trial
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy trials have consistently reported lower response rates in hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer when compared with HR− cases. Preoperative endocrine therapy has therefore become a logical alternative and has gained considerable momentum from the finding that aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are more effective than tamoxifen for HR+ breast cancer in both the neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings. The most convincing neoadjuvant trial to demonstrate the superiority of an AI versus tamoxifen was the P024 study, a large multinational double-blind trial in postmenopausal women with HR+ breast cancer ineligible for breast-conserving surgery. The overall response rate (ORR) was 55% for letrozole and 36% for tamoxifen (P < 0.001). Significantly more letrozole-treated patients underwent breast-conserving surgery (45 vs. 35%, respectively; P = 0.022). In addition, ORR was significantly higher with letrozole than tamoxifen in the human epidermal growth factor receptor HER1/HER2+ subgroup (P = 0.0004). The clinical efficacy of letrozole in HER2+ breast cancer was confirmed by fluorescent in situ hybridization analysis and was found to be comparable to that of HER2− cases (ORR 71% in both subsets). Biomarker studies confirmed the superiority of letrozole in centrally assessed estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) tumors and found a strong relationship with the degree of ER positivity for both agents. Interestingly, letrozole was effective even in marginally ER+ tumors and, unlike tamoxifen, consistently reduced the expression from estrogen-regulated genes (progesterone receptor and trefoil factor 1). Furthermore, when analyzed by Ki67 immunohistochemistry, letrozole was significantly more effective than tamoxifen in reducing tumor proliferation (P = 0.0009). Thus, neoadjuvant letrozole is safe and superior to tamoxifen in the treatment of postmenopausal women with HR+ locally advanced breast cancer
Pre-operative chemotherapy in early stage resectable non-small-cell lung cancer: a randomized feasibility study justifying a multicentre phase III trial
Surgical resection offers the best chance for cure for early stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC, stage I, II, IIIA), but the 5-year survival rates are only moderate, with systemic relapse being the major cause of death. Pre-operative (neo-adjuvant) chemotherapy has shown promise in small trials restricted to stage IIIA patients. We believe similar trials are now appropriate in all stages of operable lung cancer. A feasibility study was performed in 22 patients with early stage (IB, II, IIIA) resectable NSCLC; randomized to either three cycles of chemotherapy [mitomycin-C 8 mg m−2, vinblastine 6 mg m−2 and cisplatin 50 mg m−2 (MVP)] followed by surgery (n = 11), or to surgery alone. Of 40 eligible patients, 22 agreed to participate (feasibility 55%) and all complied with the full treatment schedule. All symptomatic patients achieved either complete (50%) or partial (50%) relief of tumour-related symptoms with pre-operative chemotherapy. Fifty-five per cent achieved objective tumour response, and a further 27% minor tumour shrinkage; none had progressive disease. Partial pathological response was seen in 50%. No severe (WHO grade III–IV) toxicities occurred. No significant deterioration in quality of life was detected during chemotherapy. Pre-operative MVP chemotherapy is feasible in early stage NSCLC, and this study has now been initiated as a UK-wide Medical Research Council phase III trial. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig
Measurement of beauty production in deep inelastic scattering at HERA
The beauty production cross section for deep inelastic scattering events with
at least one hard jet in the Breit frame together with a muon has been
measured, for photon virtualities Q^2 > 2 GeV^2, with the ZEUS detector at HERA
using integrated luminosity of 72 pb^-1. The total visible cross section is
sigma_b-bbar (ep -> e jet mu X) = 40.9 +- 5.7 (stat.) +6.0 -4.4 (syst.) pb. The
next-to-leading order QCD prediction lies about 2.5 standard deviations below
the data. The differential cross sections are in general consistent with the
NLO QCD predictions; however at low values of Q^2, Bjorken x, and muon
transverse momentum, and high values of jet transverse energy and muon
pseudorapidity, the prediction is about two standard deviations below the data.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure
High unexpected genetic diversity of a narrow endemic terrestrial mollusc
The Iberian Peninsula has an extensive record of species displaying strong genetic
structure as a result of their survival in isolated pockets throughout the Pleistocene
ice ages. We used mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data to analyze phylogeographic
patterns in endemic land snails from a valley of central Portugal (Vale da
Couda), putatively assigned to Candidula coudensis, that show an exceptionally narrow
distributional range. The genetic survey presented here shows the existence of five
main mitochondrial lineages in Vale da Couda that do not cluster together suggesting
independent evolutionary histories. Our results also indicate a departure from the
expectation that species with restricted distributions have low genetic variability. The
putative past and contemporary models of geographic distribution of Vale da Couda
lineages are compatible with a scenario of species co-existence in more southern
locations during the last glacial maximum (LGM) followed by a post-LGM northern
dispersal tracking the species optimal thermal, humidity and soil physical conditionsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Expected Performance of the ATLAS Experiment - Detector, Trigger and Physics
A detailed study is presented of the expected performance of the ATLAS
detector. The reconstruction of tracks, leptons, photons, missing energy and
jets is investigated, together with the performance of b-tagging and the
trigger. The physics potential for a variety of interesting physics processes,
within the Standard Model and beyond, is examined. The study comprises a series
of notes based on simulations of the detector and physics processes, with
particular emphasis given to the data expected from the first years of
operation of the LHC at CERN
Forward jet production in deep inelastic ep scattering and low-x parton dynamics at HERA
Differential inclusive jet cross sections in neutral current deep inelastic
ep scattering have been measured with the ZEUS detector. Three phase-space
regions have been selected in order to study parton dynamics where the effects
of BFKL evolution might be present. The measurements have been compared to the
predictions of leading-logarithm parton shower Monte Carlo models and
fixed-order perturbative QCD calculations. In the forward region, QCD
calculations at order alpha_s^1 underestimate the data up to an order of
magnitude at low x. An improved description of the data in this region is
obtained by including QCD corrections at order alpha_s^2, which account for the
lowest-order t-channel gluon-exchange diagrams, highlighting the importance of
such terms in parton dynamics at low x.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figure
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