Employee Reporting in the U.K.: An Empirical Study of Managerial Objectives and Behaviour

Since the 1970's, an increase of interest was shown by researchers in employee reporting, but little empirical attention has been focused on the managerial determinants. This research addresses the need to understand how and why voluntary employee reporting developed, examining its place in the wider organisational and social context. A three-pronged enquiry was carried out in the U.K. during 1981-83, comprising documentary analysis, postal questionnaire survey and personal interviews, to find out managerial objectives and attitudes in employee communications. It traced influences from specific organisational, social and societal factors on employee reporting. Analysis of the qualitative data consistently demonstrated the importance attached by managers to reporting financial information to the employees. Their communication objectives showed a dominant social theme. Employee reporting developments result from strong faith or commitment to communications on the part of management, and their perceptions of specific pressing organisational needs and wider social and moral issues at the time. The study highlights the complexity of managers' perceptions and mixed feelings about the intrinsic value and conflicting social interests in employee information. There remains scope for experimentation on the uses and designs of employee communication systems. This research represents a contribution to the developing interpretive approach in accounting research, and to the debates about corporate accountability to the employees and public policy making

Subcellular localization and regulation of type-1C and type-5 phosphodiesterases

We investigated the subcellular localization of PDE5 in in vitro human myometrial cells. We demonstrated for the first time that PDE5 is localized in discrete cytoplasmic foci and vesicular compartments corresponding to centrosomes. We also found that PDE5 intracellular localization is not cell- or species-specific, as it is conserved in different animal and human cells. PDE5 protein levels are strongly regulated by the mitotic activity of the smooth muscle cells (SMCs), as they were increased in quiescent, contractile myometrial cultures, and conditions in which proliferation was inhibited. In contrast, PDE1C levels decreased in all conditions that inhibited proliferation. This mirrored the enzymatic activity of both PDE5 and PDE1C. Increasing cGMP intracellular levels by dbcGMP or sildenafil treatments did not block proliferation, while dbcAMP inhibited myometrial cell proliferation. Together, these results suggest that PDE5 regulation of cGMP intracellular levels is not involved in the control of SMC cycle progression, but may represent one of the markers of the contractile phenotype

The ontogenetic expression pattern of type 5 phosphodiesterase correlates with androgen receptor expression in rat corpora cavernosa

The mechanisms controlling erection in animals and in humans are mainly age-dependent. However, the ontogenesis of the biochemical machinery of erection is largely unknown. The aim of this article was to study the expression pattern of androgen receptor (AR) and the major cyclic guanosine monophosphate-hydrolyzing enzyme present in the corpora cavernosa, type 5 phosphodiesterase (PDE5), in the rat penis during development. AR and PDE5 expression was tested on ribonucleic acids (RNAs) and proteins extracted from the whole penis or from primary cultures of smooth muscle cells obtained from the corpora cavernosa of 3- (rCC3), 20- (rCC20), and 60- (rCC60) day-old rats. Rat corpus cavernosum cells were characterized by immunocytochemistry and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Expression of PDE5 and AR messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein have been measured by RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. A significant increase in PDE5 mRNA expression was observed with RT-PCR from prepuberty to adulthood (0.5 +/- 0.06 vs. 1.6 +/- 0.046 arbitrary units [a.u.] P = 0.049). This age-dependent increase was mirrored by the increase in PDE5 protein expression found when comparing neonatal to adult corpus cavernosum smooth muscle cells (1.5 +/- 0.26 vs. 4.9 +/- 0.59 a.u. P = 0.0038) and the further 1.6-fold increase from rCC20 to rCC60 (4.9 +/- 0.59 vs. 8.0 +/- 0.8 a.u. P = 0.0024). This is the first demonstration of the ontogenetic profile of PDE5 expression in corpus cavernosum smooth muscle. As it has been demonstrated that androgens control PDE5 expression and that PDE5 inhibitors need an optimal androgenic milieu to act perfectly on erection, the expression of AR protein in rat corpus cavernosum cells was then tested by Western blot. A 7.0-fold increase was observed in primary cultured cells from 3 to 60 days old (1.4 +/- 0.38 vs. 9.8 +/- 1.3 a.u. P = 0.0052). The increase in ARs during rat penile development parallels that of PDE5 RNA and protein, thus suggesting a positive effect of androgens on PDE5 expression. Carosa E, Rossi S, Giansante N, Gravina GL, Castri A, Dolci S, Botti F, Morelli A, Di Luigi L, Pepe M, Lenzi A, and Jannini EA. The ontogenetic expression pattern of type 5 phosphodiesterase correlates with androgen receptor expression in rat corpora cavernosa. J Sex Med 2009;6:388-396

Predictors of mortality in staphylococcus aureus bacteremia

Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) is an important infection with an incidence rate ranging from 20 to 50 cases/100,000 population per year. Between 10% and 30% of these patients will die from SAB. Comparatively, this accounts for a greater number of deaths than for AIDS, tuberculosis, and viral hepatitis combined. Multiple factors influence outcomes for SAB patients. The most consistent predictor of mortality is age, with older patients being twice as likely to die. Except for the presence of comorbidities, the impacts of other host factors, including gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and immune status, are unclear. Pathogen-host interactions, especially the presence of shock and the source of SAB, are strong predictors of outcomes. Although antibiotic resistance may be associated with increased mortality, questions remain as to whether this reflects pathogen-specific factors or poorer responses to antibiotic therapy, namely, vancomycin. Optimal management relies on starting appropriate antibiotics in a timely fashion, resulting in improved outcomes for certain patient subgroups. The roles of surgery and infectious disease consultations require further study. Although the rate of mortality from SAB is declining, it remains high. Future international collaborative studies are required to tease out the relative contributions of various factors to mortality, which would enable the optimization of SAB management and patient outcomes