The most creative organization in the world? The BBC, 'creativity' and managerial style

The managerial styles of two BBC directors-general, John Birt and Greg Dyke, have often been contrasted but not so far analysed from the perspective of their different views of 'creative management'. This article first addresses the orthodox reading of 'Birtism'; second, it locates Dyke's 'creative' turn in the wider context of fashionable neo-management theory and UK government creative industries policy; third, it details Dyke's drive to change the BBC's culture; and finally, it concludes with some reflections on the uncertainties inherent in managing a creative organisation

Analysis of CC chemokine and chemokine receptor expression in solid ovarian tumours

To understand the chemokine network in a tissue, both chemokine and chemokine receptor expression should be studied. Human epithelial ovarian tumours express a range of chemokines but little is known about the expression and localisation of chemokine receptors. With the aim of understanding chemokine action in this cancer, we investigated receptors for CC–chemokines and their ligands in 25 biopsies of human ovarian cancer. CC–chemokine receptor mRNA was generally absent from solid tumours, the exception being CCR1 which was detected in samples from 75% of patients. CCR1 mRNA localised to macrophages and lymphocytes and there was a correlation between numbers of CD8+ and CCR1 expressing cells (P = 0.031). mRNA for 6 CC-chemokines was expressed in a majority of tumour samples. In a monocytic cell line in vitro, we found that CCR1 mRNA expression was increased 5-fold by hypoxia. We suggest that the CC-chemokine network in ovarian cancer is controlled at the level of CC-chemokine receptors and this may account for the phenotypes of infiltrating cells found in these tumours. The leukocyte infiltrate may contribute to tumour growth and spread by providing growth survival factors and matrix metalloproteases. Thus, CCR1 may be a novel therapeutic target in ovarian cancer. http://www.bjcancer.com © 2001 Cancer Research Campaignhttp://www.bjcancer.co

Oral Ethanol-Reinforced Responding in Rhesus Monkeys: Effects of Opioid Antagonists Selective for the Μ-,Κ-, or Δ-Receptor

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65904/1/j.1530-0277.1998.tb03960.x.pd

Sex Differences in Cannabinoid 1 vs. Cannabinoid 2 Receptor-Selective Antagonism of Antinociception Produced by Δ 9

The purpose of this study was to determine whether sex differ-ences in cannabinoid (CB)-induced antinociception and motoric effects can be attributed to differential activation of CB1 or CB2 receptors. Rats were injected intraperitoneally with vehicle, rimon-abant [5-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-methyl-N-1-piperidinyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide (SR141716A), a putative CB1 receptor-selective antagonist; 0.1–10 mg/kg] or 5-(4-chloro-3-methylphenyl)-1-[(4-methylphenyl)methyl]-N-[(1S,2S,4R)-1,3,3-trimethylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-yl]-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide (SR144528) (a putative CB2 receptor-selective antagonist; 1.0–10 mg/kg). Thirty minutes later, 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC; 1.25–40 mg/kg) or 5-(1,1-dimethylheptyl)-2-[5-hydroxy-2-(3-hydroxypropyl)cyclohexyl]phenol (CP55,940) (0.05–1.6 mg/kg) was injected. Paw pressure and tail withdrawal antinociception

Institutional creativity and pathologies of potential space: The modern university

This paper proposes the applicability of object relations psychoanalytic conceptions of dialogue (Ogden, 1986, 1993) to thinking about relationships and relational structures and their governance in universities. It proposes that: the qualities of dialogic relations in creative institutions are the proper index of creative productivity; that is of, as examples, ’thinking’ (Evans, 2004), ’emotional learning’ (Salzberger-Wittenburg et al., 1983) or ’criticality’ (Barnett, 1997); contemporary institutions’ explicit preoccupation in assuring, monitoring and managing creative ’dialogue’ can, in practice, pervert creative processes and thoughtful symbolic productivity, thus inhibiting students’ development and the quality of ’thinking space’ for teaching and research. In this context the paper examines uncanny and perverse connections between Paulo Freire’s (1972) account of educational empowerment and dialogics (from his Pedagogy of the oppressed) to the consumerist (see, for example, Clarke & Vidler, 2005) rhetoric of student empowerment, as mediated by some strands of managerialism in contemporary higher education. The paper grounds its critique of current models of dialogue, feedback loops, audit and other mechanisms of accountability (Power, 1997; Strathern, 2000), in a close analysis of how creative thinking emerges. The paper discusses the failure to maintain a dialogic space in humanities and social science areas in particular, exploring psychoanalytic conceptions from Donald Winnicott (1971), Milner (1979), Thomas Ogden (1986) and Csikszentmihalyi (1997). Coleridge’s ideas about imagination as the movement of thought between subjective and objective modes are discussed in terms of both intra- and inter-subjective relational modes of ’dialogue’, which are seen as subject to pathology in the pathologically structured psychosocial environment. Current patterns of institutional governance, by micromanaging dialogic spaces, curtail the ’natural’ rhythms and temporalities of imagination by giving an over-emphasis to the moment of outcome, at the expense of holding the necessary vagaries of process in the institutional ’mind’. On the contrary, as this paper argues, creative thinking lies in sporadic emergences at the conjunction of object/(ive) outcome and through (thought) processes

Listening to ironically-enjoyed music: A self-regulatory perspective

This research examines adults’ reported motivations for listening to music that they enjoy ironically. In a pilot (N = 96) and main (N = 175) studies, open-ended responses from adults were analysed using Thematic Analysis. Based on the pilot study, ironically enjoyed music was defined as “Music that is enjoyed because of being bad, despite being bad, or for different reasons than intended.” Although many relevant self-regulatory functions of listening to music in general were also relevant to ironically- enjoyed music, it also emerged that ironic enjoyment of music has characteristics that are unique to it: the additional role of mocking, ridiculing, and laughing at the music, and the social benefit that this provides. Music that was listened to “because of” its negative features had a variety of musical features, and the listening usually served functions unique to ironic enjoyment of music, such as mockery. When music was listened to “despite” negative qualities, the music itself was often described as having attractive rhythm, melody or lyrics, while the irony protected the listener from conflicting values associated with the music, helping the listener communicate to others that they did not identify with the music on a higher level. Unfamiliar music mainly played a social role, whereas familiar music related to nostalgia as well as most other functions

Necrosis correlates with high vascular density and focal macrophage infiltration in invasive carcinoma of the breast

Necrosis is a common feature of invasive carcinoma of the breast and is caused by chronic ischaemia leading to infarction. Although necrosis was previously assumed to be due to a generally poor blood supply in the tumour, in this study we show that it is present in tumours with focal areas of high vascular density situated away from the actual sites of necrosis. This may account, in part, for the previous observation that necrosis is linked to poor prognosis in this disease. Highly angiogenic tumours often display blood vessel shunting from one tumour area to another, which further exacerbates ischaemia and the formation of tumour necrosis. We have recently demonstrated that high focal microphage infiltration into breast tumours is significantly associated with increased tumour angiogenesis and poor prognosis and that the macrophages accumulate in poorly vascularized, hypoxic areas within breast tumours. In order to investigate the interactions of macrophages with chronic ischaemia (as reflected by the presence of necrosis) and angiogenesis in breast tumours, we quantified the levels of these three biological parameters in a series of 109 consecutive invasive breast carcinomas. We found that the degree of tumour necrosis was correlated with both microphage infiltration (Mann–Whitney U, P-value = 0.0009; chi-square, P-value = 0.01) and angiogenesis (Mann–Whitney U P-value = 0.0008, chi square P-value = 0.03). It was also observed that necrosis was a feature of tumours possessing an aggressive phenotype, i.e. high tumour grade (chi-square, P-value < 0.001), larger size (Mann–Whitney U, P-value = 0.003) and low oestrogen receptor status (Mann–Whitney U, P-value = 0.008; chi-square, P-value < 0.008). We suggest, therefore, that aggressive tumours rapidly outgrow their vascular supply in certain areas, leading to areas of prolonged hypoxia within the tumour and, subsequently, to necrosis. This, in turn, may attract macrophages into the tumour, which then contribute to the angiogenic process, giving rise to an association between high levels of angiogenesis and extensive necrosis. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig