139 research outputs found
Forward-Looking Sustainability Agency for Developing Future Cruise Ships
The study addressed sharing of futures insights as a component of
sustainability agency for long-term company enhancement in an
interorganizational shipbuildersâ network. The purpose was to analyze
social structures under âagencyâ terminology. This joint sustainability
project involved a partnership of firms, academia, and nongovernmental
organization (NGO) actors in collaborative cruise ship building. The
study adapted a mixed method approach where social network analysis
(SNA) was enriched with other contextual data to make network data more
applicable and accessible. The results revealed a loose and thin network
structure, with relatively high trust among network actors. The
networkâs social structure was found to facilitate insight sharing. Lead
firm actors clearly played a central role in enhancing sustainability,
and the researchers, as well as industrial association actors, made a
significant contribution to insight sharing and transmission. The
findings suggest that the case network would benefit from an open and
balanced social structure that incorporates a number of insight brokers
to enhance forward-looking sustainability agency (F-L SA). Futures
insight sharing enhances agency in the context of joint sustainability
actions and improves capacity to respond to systemic challenges.
Understanding how proactive agency can be promoted in network settings
strengthens strategic aspects of managerial practice and contributes to
discourse around sustainability agency</p
Multiple Dimensions of Strategic Spatial Planning: Local Authorities Navigating between Rationalities in Competitive and Collaborative Settings
This article scrutinises the role of strategic and communicative rationalities in strategic spatial planning. It contributes to the theoretical discussion on strategic spatial planning, where communicative rationality has usually been taken as a normative standpoint, despite the evident role of strategic rationality in guiding planning on the ground. To develop means for equally recognising the two rationalities, the article introduces an analytical framework in which four strategic orientations are identified by juxtaposing coordination through communicative and strategic rationalities with competitive and collaborative settings of social interaction. Its applicability is illustrated with the example of strategic spatial planning in Turku (Finland)
Early Colonization with a Group of Lactobacilli Decreases the Risk for Allergy at Five Years of Age Despite Allergic Heredity
Background: Microbial deprivation early in life can potentially influence immune mediated disease development such as allergy. The aims of this study were to investigate the influence of parental allergy on the infant gut colonization and associations between infant gut microbiota and allergic disease at five years of age. Methods and Findings: Fecal samples were collected from 58 infants, with allergic or non-allergic parents respectively, at one and two weeks as well as at one, two and twelve months of life. DNA was extracted from the fecal samples and Real time PCR, using species-specific primers, was used for detection of Bifidobacterium (B.) adolescentis, B. breve, B. bifidum, Clostridium (C.) difficile, a group of Lactobacilli (Lactobacillus (L.) casei, L. paracasei and L. rhamnosus) as well as Staphylococcus (S.) aureus. Infants with non-allergic parents were more frequently colonized by Lactobacilli compared to infants with allergic parents (p = 0.014). However, non-allergic five-year olds acquired Lactobacilli more frequently during their first weeks of life, than their allergic counterparts, irrespectively of parental allergy (p = 0.009, p = 0.028). Further the non-allergic children were colonized with Lactobacilli on more occasions during the first two months of life (p = 0.038). Also, significantly more non-allergic children were colonized with B. bifidum at one week of age than the children allergic at five years (p = 0.048). Conclusion: In this study we show that heredity for allergy has an impact on the gut microbiota in infants but also that earl
CP violation effect in long-baseline neutrino oscillation in the four-neutrino model
We investigate CP-violation effect in the long-baseline neutrino oscillation
in the four-neutrino model with mass scheme of the two nearly degenerate pairs
separated with the order of 1 eV, by using the data from the solar neutrino
deficit, the atmospheric neutrino anomaly and the LSND experiments along with
the other accelerator and reactor experiments. By use of the most general
parametrization of the mixing matrix with six angles and six phases, we show
that the genuine CP-violation effect could attain as large as 0.3 for and that the matter effect is negligibly
small such as at most 0.01 for for , which is the mass-squared difference relevant
to the long-baseline oscillation.Comment: 21 pages in LaTeX, 9 ps figures. Some changes in the Introduction and
Reference
Chronic Pain after Laparoscopic Transabdominal Preperitoneal Hernia Repair: A Randomized Comparison of Light and Extralight Titanized Polypropylene Mesh
Long term extension of a randomised controlled trial of probiotics using electronic health records
Most randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are relatively short term and, due to costs and available resources, have limited opportunity to be re-visited or extended. There is no guarantee that effects of treatments remain unchanged beyond the study. Here, we illustrate the feasibility, benefits and cost-effectiveness of enriching standard trial design with electronic follow up. We completed a 5-year electronic follow up of a RCT investigating the impact of probiotics on asthma and eczema in children born 2005-2007, with traditional fieldwork follow up to two years. Participants and trial outcomes were identified and analysed after five years using secure, routine, anonymised, person-based electronic health service databanks. At two years, we identified 93% of participants and compared fieldwork with electronic health records, highlighting areas of agreement and disagreement. Retention of children from lower socio-economic groups was improved, reducing volunteer bias. At 5 years we identified a reduced 82% of participants. These data allowed the trial's first robust analysis of asthma endpoints. We found no indication that probiotic supplementation to pregnant mothers and infants protected against asthma or eczema at 5 years. Continued longer-term follow up is technically straightforward
Human oral isolate Lactobacillus fermentum AGR1487 induces a proinflammatory response in germ-free rat colons
Lactobacilli are thought to be beneficial for human health, with lactobacilli-associated infections being confined to immune-compromised individuals. However, Lactobacillus fermentum AGR1487 negatively affects barrier integrity in vitro so we hypothesized that it caused a pro-inflammatory response in the host. We compared germ-free rats inoculated with AGR1487 to those inoculated with another L. fermentum strain, AGR1485, which does not affect in vitro barrier integrity. We showed that rats inoculated with AGR1487 had more inflammatory cells in their colon, higher levels of inflammatory biomarkers, and increased colonic gene expression of pro-inflammatory pathways. In addition, our in vitro studies showed that AGR1487 had a greater capacity to activate TLR signaling and induce pro-inflammatory cytokines in immune cells. This study indicates the potential of strains of the same species to differentially elicit inflammatory responses in the host and highlights the importance of strain characterization in probiotic approaches to treat inflammatory disorders
Flavor Mixing and CP Violation of Massive Neutrinos
We present an overview of recent progress in the phenomenological study of
neutrino masses, lepton flavor mixing and CP violation. We concentrate on the
model-independent properties of massive neutrinos, both in vacuum and in
matter. Current experimental constraints on the neutrino mass spectrum and the
lepton flavor mixing parameters are summarized. The Dirac- and Majorana-like
phases of CP violation, which are associated respectively with the
long-baseline neutrino oscillations and the neutrinoless double beta decay, are
discussed in detail. The seesaw mechanism, the leptogenesis scenario and the
strategies to construct lepton mass matrices are briefly described. The
features of flavor mixing between one sterile neutrino and three active
neutrinos are also explored.Comment: Invited review. LaTex 76 pages (14 PS figures included
Long-term exposure to hypoxia inhibits tumor progression of lung cancer in rats and mice
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hypoxia has been identified as a major negative factor for tumor progression in clinical observations and in animal studies. However, the precise role of hypoxia in tumor progression has not been fully explained. In this study, we extensively investigated the effect of long-term exposure to hypoxia on tumor progression <it>in vivo.</it></p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Rats bearing transplanted tumors consisting of A549 human lung cancer cells (lung cancer tumor) were exposed to hypoxia for different durations and different levels of oxygen. The tumor growth and metastasis were evaluated. We also treated A549 lung cancer cells (A549 cells) with chronic hypoxia and then implanted the hypoxia-pretreated cancer cells into mice. The effect of exposure to hypoxia on metastasis of Lewis lung carcinoma in mice was also investigated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that long-term exposure to hypoxia a) significantly inhibited lung cancer tumor growth in xenograft and orthotopic models in rats, b) significantly reduced lymphatic metastasis of the lung cancer in rats and decreased lung metastasis of Lewis lung carcinoma in mice, c) reduced lung cancer cell proliferation and cell cycle progression <it>in vitro</it>, d) decreased growth of the tumors from hypoxia-pretreated A549 cells, e) decreased Na<sup>+</sup>-K<sup>+ </sup>ATPase Îą1 expression in hypoxic lung cancer tumors, and f) increased expression of hypoxia inducible factors (HIF1Îą and HIF2Îą) but decreased microvessel density in the lung cancer tumors. In contrast to lung cancer, the growth of tumor from HCT116 human colon cancer cells (colon cancer tumor) was a) significantly enhanced in the same hypoxia conditions, accompanied by b) no significant change in expression of Na<sup>+</sup>-K<sup>+ </sup>ATPase Îą1, c) increased HIF1Îą expression (no HIF2Îą was detected) and d) increased microvessel density in the tumor tissues.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study demonstrated that long-term exposure to hypoxia repressed tumor progression of the lung cancer from A549 cells and that decreased expression of Na<sup>+</sup>-K<sup>+ </sup>ATPase was involved in hypoxic inhibition of tumor progression. The results from this study provide new insights into the role of hypoxia in tumor progression and therapeutic strategies for cancer treatment.</p
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