Cross-Boundary Teaming for Innovation: Integrating Research on Teams and Knowledge in Organizations

Cross-boundary teaming, within and across organizations, is an increasingly popular strategy for innovation. Knowledge diversity is seen to expand the range of views and ideas that teams can draw upon to innovate. Yet, case studies of practice reveal that teaming across knowledge boundaries can be difficult, and innovation is not always realized. Two streams of research are particularly relevant for understanding this challenge: research on team effectiveness and research on knowledge in organizations. They offer complementary insights: the former stream focuses on group dynamics and measures team inputs, processes, emergent states, and outcomes, while the latter closely investigates dialogue and objects in recurrent social practices. Drawing from both streams, this paper seeks to shed light on the complexity of cross-boundary teaming, while highlighting factors that may enhance its effectiveness. We develop an integrative model to provide greater explanatory power than previous approaches to assess cross-boundary teaming efforts and their innovation performance

The Role of Innate Immunity in Autoimmunity

During the 2004 International Congress of Immunology in Montreal, a panel of experts gathered for an “Ideashop” discussion on the potential role of innate immunity in autoimmunity and the ways in which this might be targeted in future therapies

Friction Mediates Scission of Tubular Membranes Scaffolded by BAR Proteins

International audienceMembrane scission is essential for intracellular trafficking. While BAR domain proteins such as endophilin have been reported in dynamin-independent scission of tubular membrane necks, the cutting mechanism has yet to be deciphered. Here, we combine a theoretical model, in vitro, and in vivo experiments revealing how protein scaffolds may cut tubular membranes. We demonstrate that the protein scaffold bound to the underlying tube creates a frictional barrier for lipid diffusion; tube elongation thus builds local membrane tension until the membrane undergoes scission through lysis. We call this mechanism friction-driven scission (FDS). In cells, motors pull tubes, particularly during endocytosis. Through reconstitution, we show that motors not only can pull out and extend protein-scaffolded tubes but also can cut them by FDS. FDS is generic, operating even in the absence of amphipathic helices in the BAR domain, and could in principle apply to any high-friction protein and membrane assembly

Ecology Drives the Worldwide Distribution of Human Diseases

Identifying the factors underlying the origin and maintenance of the latitudinal diversity gradient is a central problem in ecology, but no consensus has emerged on which processes might generate this broad pattern. Interestingly, the vast majority of studies exploring the gradient have focused on free-living organisms, ignoring parasitic and infectious disease (PID) species. Here, we address the influence of environmental factors on the biological diversity of human pathogens and their global spatial organization. Using generalized linear multivariate models and Monte Carlo simulations, we conducted a series of comparative analyses to test the hypothesis that human PIDs exhibit the same global patterns of distribution as other taxonomic groups. We found a significant negative relationship between latitude and PID species richness, and a nested spatial organization, i.e., the accumulation of PID species with latitude, over large spatial scales. Additionally, our results show that climatic factors are of primary importance in explaining the link between latitude and the spatial pattern of human pathogens. Based on our findings, we propose that the global latitudinal species diversity gradient might be generated in large part by biotic interactions, providing strong support for the idea that current estimates of species diversity are substantially underestimated. When parasites and pathogens are included, estimates of total species diversity may increase by more than an order of magnitude

Gatekeepers of financial power: from London to Lagos

The main premise of this paper is that, until recently, African elites did not regulate or control financial flows moving across the continent. They were not financial gatekeepers. In Africa Since 1940, Cooper identified African elites as gatekeepers regulating access to resources and opportunities passing through strategic sites. This paper makes a case for revision of existing notions of the gatekeeper state in an ongoing effort to (re)negotiate the continent’s colonial past through two new arguments. The first is that financial power was never located at a ‘peripheral’ African gate, but resolutely held onto within leading financial centres, circumventing any opportunity for African elites to control financial flows. Failure to distinguish between types of flows distorts analysis of African political economic power under colonialism. It is only in the post-2000 period, that we see powerful African states driving the integration of African markets into the global financial system. The second argument is that these African goals to control financial flows correspond more to ‘gateway’ strategies than to gatekeeper. Drawing on the case of Lagos, I demonstrate how this ‘gateway’ concept better captures trans-scalar processes of new financial clustering in Africa’s emerging markets than a concept associated with ‘gates’ under Empire

Ectopic fat accumulation in patients with COPD:an ECLIPSE substudy

Background: Obesity is increasingly associated with COPD, but little is known about the prevalence of ectopic fat accumulation in COPD and whether this can possibly be associated with poor clinical outcomes and comorbidities. The Evaluation of COPD Longitudinally to Identify Predictive Surrogate Endpoints (ECLIPSE) substudy tested the hypothesis that COPD is associated with increased ectopic fat accumulation and that this would be associated with COPD-related outcomes and comorbidities. Methods: Computed tomography (CT) images of the thorax obtained in ECLIPSE were used to quantify ectopic fat accumulation at L2–L3 (eg, cross-sectional area [CSA] of visceral adipose tissue [VAT] and muscle tissue [MT] attenuation, a reflection of muscle fat infiltration) and CSA of MT. A dose–response relationship between CSA of VAT, MT attenuation and CSA of MT and COPD-related outcomes (6-minute walking distance [6MWD], exacerbation rate, quality of life, and forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1] decline) was addressed with the Cochran–Armitage trend test. Regression models were used to investigate possible relationships between CT body composition indices and comorbidities. Results: From the entire ECLIPSE cohort, we identified 585 subjects with valid CT images at L2–L3 to assess body composition. CSA of VAT was increased (P<0.0001) and MT attenuation was reduced (indicating more muscle fat accumulation) in patients with COPD (P<0.002). Progressively increasing CSA of VAT was not associated with adverse clinical outcomes. The probability of exhibiting low 6MWD and accelerated FEV1 decline increased with progressively decreasing MT attenuation and CSA of MT. In COPD, the probability of having diabetes (P=0.024) and gastroesophageal reflux (P=0.0048) at baseline increased in parallel with VAT accumulation, while the predicted MT attenuation increased the probability of cardiovascular comorbidities (P=0.042). Body composition parameters did not correlate with coronary artery scores or with survival. Conclusion: Ectopic fat accumulation is increased in COPD, and this was associated with relevant clinical outcomes and comorbidities

Startle disease in Irish wolfhounds associated with a microdeletion in the glycine transporter GlyT2 gene

AbstractDefects in glycinergic synaptic transmission in humans, cattle, and rodents result in an exaggerated startle reflex and hypertonia in response to either acoustic or tactile stimuli. Molecular genetic studies have determined that mutations in the genes encoding the postsynaptic glycine receptor (GlyR) α1 and β subunits (GLRA1 and GLRB) and the presynaptic glycine transporter GlyT2 (SLC6A5) are the major cause of these disorders. Here, we report the first genetically confirmed canine cases of startle disease. A litter of seven Irish wolfhounds was identified in which two puppies developed muscle stiffness and tremor in response to handling. Although sequencing of GLRA1 and GLRB did not reveal any pathogenic mutations, analysis of SLC6A5 revealed a homozygous 4.2kb microdeletion encompassing exons 2 and 3 in both affected animals. This results in the loss of part of the large cytoplasmic N-terminus and all subsequent transmembrane domains due to a frameshift. This genetic lesion was confirmed by defining the deletion breakpoint, Southern blotting, and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA). This analysis enabled the development of a rapid genotyping test that revealed heterozygosity for the deletion in the dam and sire and three other siblings, confirming recessive inheritance. Wider testing of related animals has identified a total of 13 carriers of the SLC6A5 deletion as well as non-carrier animals. These findings will inform future breeding strategies and enable a rational pharmacotherapy of this new canine disorder

Підручник зі слов’янського фольклору в Канаді

Рецензія на підручник: Kononenko N. Slavic Folklore: a Handbook. - Westport (Connecticut); London: Greenwood Press, 2007. - 209 pp

Translation: The relative native

Translation by Julia Sauma and Martin Holbraad of: Viveiros de Castro, Eduardo (2002) "O Nativo Relativo." Mana, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 113-14