101 research outputs found
Consumer Car Preferences and Information Search Channels
In this paper, we measure the relations between stated and revealed car preferences and the use of information sources in the car purchasing process, based on a survey of households in the Netherlands. The analysis showed that attitudinal and behavioral constructs are found for ‘environmental’, ‘performance’, and ‘convenience’ preferences, but that there is a ‘gap’ between attitude and behavior. The results show that people with a positive environmental attitude who also show environmentally friendly behavior have more involvement with cars than people who do not translate their environmental attitude into the corresponding behavior. This leads to the idea that not only environmental knowledge but also involvement with cars is a prerequisite for buying an environmentally friendly car.car purchase, involvement, attitude–behavior gap, information search
Фільтраційні справи радянських громадян, примусово вивезених до Німеччина в роки Великої Вітчизняної війни, як історичне джерело
We ask how incumbent car manufacturers and their political coalitions changed their political strategy with respect to the Californian zero emission vehicle mandate over the period 2000-2013. Building on the Corporate Political Activities literature we conceptualize firms' political strategies and their underlying tactics and actions. Our longitudinal case study builds on a dataset comprising governmental reports, documents, and public hearing transcripts, letters from industry, and complementary interviews with stakeholders. We find that car manufacturers became less defensive over time and more proactive and compliant in their political strategies towards the zero emission vehicle mandate. Car manufacturers' coalitions on the other hand, remain relatively defensive in their political actions as they continue to do the manufacturers' "dirty work". We provide insights in the Corporate Political Activities used to influence policymakers. To deal with industry opposition to policy interventions, our research suggests that policy makers might focus their interaction with industry on individual firms instead of industry associations, craft policies that stimulate competition between firms to break apart their closed industry front, and complement technology-forcing policies with demand-pull initiatives
Antiandrogens prevent stable DNA-binding of the androgen receptor
The androgen receptor (AR) is essential for development of the male gender
and in the growth of the majority of prostate cancers. Agonists as well as
most antagonists induce translocation of the receptor to the nucleus,
whereas only agonists can activate AR function. Antagonists are therefore
used in the therapy of metastasized prostate cancer. To obtain insight
into the mechanism by which antagonists block AR function in living cells,
we studied nuclear mobility and localization of green fluorescent protein
(GFP)-tagged AR in the presence of either the agonist R1881 or the
antagonists bicalutamide and hydroxyflutamide. As controls we investigated
a non-DNA-binding AR mutant (A573D) and two mutants (W741C and T877A) with
broadened ligand specificity. We demonstrate that in the presence of
R1881, AR localizes in numerous intranuclear foci and, using complementary
fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) approaches and computer
modelling, that a fraction of AR ( approximately 10-15%) is transiently
immobilized in a DNA-binding-dependent manner (individual ARs being
immobile for approximately 45 seconds). By contrast, antagonist-bound
GFP-AR showed no detectable immobile fraction and the mobility was similar
to that of the R1881-liganded non-DNA-binding mutant (A573D), indicating
that antagonists do not induce the relatively stable DNA-binding-dependent
immobilization observed with agonist-bound AR. Moreover, in the presence
of bicalutamide and hydroxyflutamide GFP-AR was homogeneously distributed
in the nucleus. Binding of bicalutamide and hydroxyflutamide to
GFP-AR(W741C) and GFP-AR(T877A), respectively, resulted in similar
mobility and heterogeneous nuclear distribution as observed for
R1881-liganded GFP-AR. The live cell studies indicate that the
investigated antagonists interfere with events early in the
transactivation function of the AR
Researching cycling innovations:The contested nature of understanding and shaping smart cycling futures
A ‘quiet revolution’? The impact of Training Schools on initial teacher training partnerships
This paper discusses the impact on initial teacher training of a new policy initiative in England: the introduction of Training Schools. First, the Training School project is set in context by exploring the evolution of a partnership approach to initial teacher training in England. Ways in which Training Schools represent a break with established practice are considered together with their implications for the dominant mode of partnership led by higher education institutions (HEIs). The capacity of Training Schools to achieve their own policy objectives is examined, especially their efficacy as a strategy for managing innovation and the dissemination of innovation. The paper
ends by focusing on a particular Training School project which has adopted an unusual approach to its work and enquires whether this alternative approach could offer a more profitable way forward. During the course of the paper, five different models of partnership are considered:
collaborative, complementary, HEI-led, school-led and partnership within a partnership
From green technology development to green innovation: inducing regulatory adoption of pathogen detection technology for sustainable forestry
Technological entrepreneurship has been widely acknowledged as a key driver of modern industrial economies, and more recently, a panacea for environmental and social problems. However, our current understanding of how green-technology ventures emerge and diffuse more sustainable innovations remains limited. We advance theory on green entrepreneurship by drawing on institutional work to refine and extend our understanding of how entrepreneurs may influence government policies and practices in their attempts to diffuse green technology. We develop a theoretical framework that combines institutional work with a search tool, the technological, commercial, organizational, and societal (TCOS) framework of innovative uncertainties, which identifies key opportunities, hurdles, and potential unintended consequences at early stages of technology development. We present a detailed case study of a potential university-based green-tech venture developing pathogen detection technology for forestry protection. Foreign pathogens spread by international trade can have major detrimental impacts on forests and the industries that rely on them. Our analysis found that green technology demonstrating technological feasibility is necessary but not sufficient; green-tech ventures must also engage in institutional work, in this case, articulating the technology’s benefits to regulators to establish legitimacy and avoid misuse that can hinder its adoption. We thus add to previous studies by emphasizing that institutional work could be a main activity for a green-tech venture, a core entrepreneurial strategy rather than an afterthought
Terminal NK cell maturation is controlled by concerted actions of T-bet and Zeb2 and is essential for melanoma rejection
Natural killer (NK) cell maturation is a tightly controlled process that endows NK cells with functional competence and the capacity to recognize target cells. Here, we found that the transcription factor (TF) Zeb2 was the most highly induced TF during NK cell maturation. Zeb2 is known to control epithelial to mesenchymal transition, but its role in immune cells is mostly undefined. Targeted deletion of Zeb2 resulted in impaired NK cell maturation, survival, and exit from the bone marrow. NK cell function was preserved, but mice lacking Zeb2 in NK cells were more susceptible to B16 melanoma lung metastases. Reciprocally, ectopic expression of Zeb2 resulted in a higher frequency of mature NK cells in all organs. Moreover, the immature phenotype of Zeb2(-/-) NK cells closely resembled that of Tbx21(-/-) NK cells. This was caused by both a dependence of Zeb2 expression on T-bet and a probable cooperation of these factors in gene regulation. Transgenic expression of Zeb2 in Tbx21(-/-) NK cells partially restored a normal maturation, establishing that timely induction of Zeb2 by T-bet is an essential event during NK cell differentiation. Finally, this novel transcriptional cascade could also operate in human as T-bet and Zeb2 are similarly regulated in mouse and human NK cells
Identification of biomolecule mass transport and binding rate parameters in living cells by inverse modeling
BACKGROUND: Quantification of in-vivo biomolecule mass transport and reaction rate parameters from experimental data obtained by Fluorescence Recovery after Photobleaching (FRAP) is becoming more important. METHODS AND RESULTS: The Osborne-Moré extended version of the Levenberg-Marquardt optimization algorithm was coupled with the experimental data obtained by the Fluorescence Recovery after Photobleaching (FRAP) protocol, and the numerical solution of a set of two partial differential equations governing macromolecule mass transport and reaction in living cells, to inversely estimate optimized values of the molecular diffusion coefficient and binding rate parameters of GFP-tagged glucocorticoid receptor. The results indicate that the FRAP protocol provides enough information to estimate one parameter uniquely using a nonlinear optimization technique. Coupling FRAP experimental data with the inverse modeling strategy, one can also uniquely estimate the individual values of the binding rate coefficients if the molecular diffusion coefficient is known. One can also simultaneously estimate the dissociation rate parameter and molecular diffusion coefficient given the pseudo-association rate parameter is known. However, the protocol provides insufficient information for unique simultaneous estimation of three parameters (diffusion coefficient and binding rate parameters) owing to the high intercorrelation between the molecular diffusion coefficient and pseudo-association rate parameter. Attempts to estimate macromolecule mass transport and binding rate parameters simultaneously from FRAP data result in misleading conclusions regarding concentrations of free macromolecule and bound complex inside the cell, average binding time per vacant site, average time for diffusion of macromolecules from one site to the next, and slow or rapid mobility of biomolecules in cells. CONCLUSION: To obtain unique values for molecular diffusion coefficient and binding rate parameters from FRAP data, we propose conducting two FRAP experiments on the same class of macromolecule and cell. One experiment should be used to measure the molecular diffusion coefficient independently of binding in an effective diffusion regime and the other should be conducted in a reaction dominant or reaction-diffusion regime to quantify binding rate parameters. The method described in this paper is likely to be widely used to estimate in-vivo biomolecule mass transport and binding rate parameters
Retinoids Regulate the Formation and Degradation of Gap Junctions in Androgen-Responsive Human Prostate Cancer Cells
The retinoids, the natural or synthetic derivatives of Vitamin A (retinol), are essential for the normal development of prostate and have been shown to modulate prostate cancer progression in vivo as well as to modulate growth of several prostate cancer cell lines. 9-cis-retinoic acid and all-trans-retinoic acid are the two most important metabolites of retinol. Gap junctions, formed of proteins called connexins, are ensembles of intercellular channels that permit the exchange of small growth regulatory molecules between adjoining cells. Gap junctional communication is instrumental in the control of cell growth. We examined the effect of 9-cis-retinoic acid and all-trans retinoic acid on the formation and degradation of gap junctions as well as on junctional communication in an androgen-responsive prostate cancer cell line, LNCaP, which expressed retrovirally introduced connexin32, a connexin expressed by the luminal cells and well-differentiated cells of prostate tumors. Our results showed that 9-cis-retinoic acid and all-trans retinoic acid enhanced the assembly of connexin32 into gap junctions. Our results further showed that 9-cis-retinoic acid and all-trans-retinoic acid prevented androgen-regulated degradation of gap junctions, post-translationally, independent of androgen receptor mediated signaling. Finally, our findings showed that formation of gap junctions sensitized connexin32-expressing LNCaP cells to the growth modifying effects of 9-cis-retinoic acid, all-trans-retinoic acid and androgens. Thus, the effects of retinoids and androgens on growth and the formation and degradation of gap junctions and their function might be related to their ability to modulate prostate growth and cancer
Crowds in or crowds out? The effect of foreign direct investment on domestic investment in Chinese cities
This study investigates the empirical relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and domestic investment (DI) in China using a comprehensive city-level panel over the period from 2003 to 2011. System-generalized method-of-moment estimation reveals mixed results. At the national level, FDI neither crowds in nor crowds out DI, indicating a neutral FDI–DI nexus. However, when the full sample is segmented by geographical topology, a positive and significant FDI–DI nexus can be found in eastern and, to a lesser extent, central cities. A negative, although insignificant, association is reported among western cities. Further, the empirical nexus is conditional on several local absorptive capacities including human capital, financial development, and institutional quality. These findings suggest that a region-based FDI strategy in general and local governments should strengthen their absorptive capacities to fully internalize FDI spillovers
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