The Local and the Global in English Soccer and the Rise of Satellite Television

This article is concerned with unpacking some of the important dimensions of the developing relationship in Britain between satellite television and sport. The article discusses (a) the rise of Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB network and the central role of Sky's exclusive deal with the new Football Associations Premier League for soccer in cementing the future for satellite broadcasting in Europe, and (b) the role of sport and television in constructing national identities and in promoting some of the conditions for the enactment of effective forms of citizenship. The discussion concludes with some comments on recent trends in the commercialization of sport and on the possibilities for the mediation of new forms of spectator attachments to sport

Pregnancy-specific glycoprotein expression in normal gastrointestinal tract and in tumors detected with novel monoclonal antibodies

Pregnancy-specific glycoproteins (PSGs) are immunoglobulin superfamily members related to the carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule (CEACAM) family and are encoded by 10 genes in the human. They are secreted at high levels by placental syncytiotrophoblast into maternal blood during pregnancy, and are implicated in immunoregulation, thromboregulation, and angiogenesis. To determine whether PSGs are expressed in tumors, we characterized 16 novel monoclonal antibodies to human PSG1 and used 2 that do not cross-react with CEACAMs to study PSG expression in tumors and in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract using tissue arrays and immunohistochemistry. Staining was frequently observed in primary squamous cell carcinomas and colonic adenocarcinomas and was correlated with the degree of tumor differentiation, being largely absent from metastatic samples. Staining was also observed in normal oesophageal and colonic epithelium. PSG expression in the human and mouse GI tract was confirmed using quantitative RT-PCR. However, mRNA expression was several orders of magnitude lower in the GI tract compared to placenta. Our results identify a non-placental site of PSG expression in the gut and associated tumors, with implications for determining whether PSGs have a role in tumor progression, and utility as tumor biomarkers