Balancing Control and Trust to Manage CSR Compliance in Supply Chains

This study examines how buyers and suppliers balance control and trust to manage compliance with corporate social responsibility (CSR) requirements in supply chains (SCs). Two indepth qualitative case studies of the Bangladesh apparel industry on two multinational companies of the same european country were conducted. This study indicates that a buyer's need for control and trust is important in contact with other actors for managing CSR compliance in supply chains. This study analyzes control and trust to fill an important gap in Sc theory on relationships by stressing how these constructs, interact and complement each other to manage CSR compliance in apparel industry. This study notes that managers need bothe formal and informal control to create competence and intentional trust in the supplychain

Novelty Induces Behavioural And Glucocorticoid Responses In A Songbird Artificially Selected For Divergent Personalities

Stress physiology is thought to contribute to individual differences in behaviour. In part this reflects the fact that canonical personality measures consist of responses to challenges, including novel objects and environments. Exposure to novelty is typically assumed to induce a moderate increase in glucocorticoids (CORT), although this has rarely been tested. We tested this assumption using great tits, Parus major, selected for divergent personalities (bold-fast and shy-slow explorers), predicting that the shy birds would exhibit higher CORT following exposure to a novel object. We also scored behavioural responses to the novel object, predicting that bold birds would more frequently approach the novel object and exhibit more abnormal repetitive behaviours. We found that the presence of a novel object did induce a moderate CORT response, but selection lines did not differ in the magnitude of this response. Furthermore, although both selection lines showed a robust CORT elevation to a subsequent restraint stressor, the CORT response was stronger in bold birds and this effect was specific to novel object exposure. Shy birds showed a strong positive phenotypic correlation between CORT concentrations following the novel object exposure and the subsequent restraint stress. Behaviourally, the selection lines differed in their response during novel object exposure: as predicted, bold birds more frequently approached the novel object and shy birds more strongly decreased overall locomotion during the novel object trial, but birds from both selection lines showed significant and similar frequencies of abnormal repetitive behaviours during novel object exposure. Our findings support the hypothesis that personality emerges as a result of correlated selection on behaviour and underlying endocrine mechanisms and suggest that the relationship between endocrine stress physiology and personality is context dependent

OPTIMAL DISTRIBUTED CONTROL OF STOCHASTIC ELLIPTIC SYSTEMS WITH CONSTRAINTS

The objective of this paper is to study the optimality for stochastic non cooperative elliptic systems. A distributed control problem for a stochastic elliptic systems with constraints on states and controls is studied. First, the existence and uniqueness of the state process for these systems are proved. The necessary and sufficient conditions of optimality are derived for the Dirichlet and Neumann problems

Inhibitory Effects of Anti-VEGF Antibody on the Growth and Angiogenesis of Estrogen-induced Pituitary Prolactinoma in Fischer 344 Rats: Animal Model of VEGF-targeted Therapy for Human Endocrine Tumors

Estrogen-induced pituitary prolactin-producing tumors (PRLoma) in F344 rats express a high level of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) associated with marked angiogenesis and angiectasis. To investigate whether tumor development in E2-induced PRLoma is inhibited by anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody (G6-31), we evaluated tumor growth and observed the vascular structures. With simultaneous treatment with G6-31 for the latter three weeks of the 13-week period of E2 stimulation (E2+G6-31 group), the following inhibitory effects on the PRLoma were observed in the E2+G6-31 group as compared with the E2-only group. In the E2+G6-31 group, a tendency to reduction in pituitary weight was observed and significant differences were observed as (1) reductions in the Ki-67-positive anterior cells, (2) increases in TUNEL-positive anterior cells, and (3) repair of the microvessel count by CD34-immunohistochemistry. The characteristic “blood lakes” in PRLomas were improved and replaced by repaired microvascular structures on 3D observation using confocal laser scanning microscope. These inhibitory effects due to anti-VEGF antibody might be related to the autocrine/paracrine action of VEGF on the tumor cells, because VEGF and its receptor are co-expressed on the tumor cells. Thus, our results demonstrate that anti-VEGF antibody exerted inhibitory effects on pituitary tumorigenesis in well-established E2 induced PRLomas

Therapeutic Hypothermia Reduces Intracranial Pressure and Partial Brain Oxygen Tension in Patients with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury:Preliminary Data from the Eurotherm3235 Trial

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant cause of disability and death and a huge economic burden throughout the world. Much of the morbidity associated with TBI is attributed to secondary brain injuries resulting in hypoxia and ischemia after the initial trauma. Intracranial hypertension and decreased partial brain oxygen tension (P(bt)O(2)) are targeted as potentially avoidable causes of morbidity. Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) may be an effective intervention to reduce intracranial pressure (ICP), but could also affect cerebral blood flow (CBF). This is a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from 17 patients admitted to the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh. Patients with an ICP >20 mmHg refractory to initial therapy were randomized to standard care or standard care and TH (intervention group) titrated between 32°C and 35°C to reduce ICP. ICP and P(bt)O(2) were measured using the Licox system and core temperature was recorded through rectal thermometer. Data were analyzed at the hour before cooling, the first hour at target temperature, 2 consecutive hours at target temperature, and after 6 hours of hypothermia. There was a mean decrease in ICP of 4.3±1.6 mmHg (p<0.04) from 15.7 to 11.4 mmHg, from precooling to the first epoch of hypothermia in the intervention group (n=9) that was not seen in the control group (n=8). A decrease in ICP was maintained throughout all time periods. There was a mean decrease in P(bt)O(2) of 7.8±3.1 mmHg (p<0.05) from 30.2 to 22.4 mmHg, from precooling to stable hypothermia, which was not seen in the control group. This research supports others in demonstrating a decrease in ICP with temperature, which could facilitate a reduction in the use of hyperosmolar agents or other stage II interventions. The decrease in P(bt)O(2) is not below the suggested treatment threshold of 20 mmHg, but might indicate a decrease in CBF

Volumetric laser endomicroscopy and its application to Barrett's esophagus: results from a 1,000 patient registry.

Volumetric laser endomicroscopy (VLE) uses optical coherence tomography (OCT) for real-time, microscopic cross-sectional imaging. A US-based multi-center registry was constructed to prospectively collect data on patients undergoing upper endoscopy during which a VLE scan was performed. The objective of this registry was to determine usage patterns of VLE in clinical practice and to estimate quantitative and qualitative performance metrics as they are applied to Barrett's esophagus (BE) management. All procedures utilized the NvisionVLE Imaging System (NinePoint Medical, Bedford, MA) which was used by investigators to identify the tissue types present, along with focal areas of concern. Following the VLE procedure, investigators were asked to answer six key questions regarding how VLE impacted each case. Statistical analyses including neoplasia diagnostic yield improvement using VLE was performed. One thousand patients were enrolled across 18 US trial sites from August 2014 through April 2016. In patients with previously diagnosed or suspected BE (894/1000), investigators used VLE and identified areas of concern not seen on white light endoscopy (WLE) in 59% of the procedures. VLE imaging also guided tissue acquisition and treatment in 71% and 54% of procedures, respectively. VLE as an adjunct modality improved the neoplasia diagnostic yield by 55% beyond the standard of care practice. In patients with no prior history of therapy, and without visual findings from other technologies, VLE-guided tissue acquisition increased neoplasia detection over random biopsies by 700%. Registry investigators reported that VLE improved the BE management process when used as an adjunct tissue acquisition and treatment guidance tool. The ability of VLE to image large segments of the esophagus with microscopic cross-sectional detail may provide additional benefits including higher yield biopsies and more efficient tissue acquisition. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02215291

Neuroimaging Biomarkers of mTOR Inhibition on Vascular and Metabolic Functions in Aging Brain and Alzheimer’s Disease

The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a nutrient sensor of eukaryotic cells. Inhibition of mechanistic mTOR signaling can increase life and health span in various species via interventions that include rapamycin and caloric restriction (CR). In the central nervous system, mTOR inhibition demonstrates neuroprotective patterns in aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by preserving mitochondrial function and reducing amyloid beta retention. However, the effects of mTOR inhibition for in vivo brain physiology remain largely unknown. Here, we review recent findings of in vivo metabolic and vascular measures using non-invasive, multimodal neuroimaging methods in rodent models for brain aging and AD. Specifically, we focus on pharmacological treatment (e.g., rapamycin) for restoring brain functions in animals modeling human AD; nutritional interventions (e.g., CR and ketogenic diet) for enhancing brain vascular and metabolic functions in rodents at young age (5–6 months of age) and preserving those functions in aging (18–20 months of age). Various magnetic resonance (MR) methods [i.e., imaging (MRI), angiography (MRA), and spectroscopy (MRS)], confocal microscopic imaging, and positron emission tomography (PET) provided in vivo metabolic and vascular measures. We also discuss the translational potential of mTOR interventions. Since PET and various MR neuroimaging methods, as well as the different interventions (e.g., rapamycin, CR, and ketogenic diet) are also available for humans, these findings may have tremendous implications in future clinical trials of neurological disorders in aging populations