The Performative University: ‘Targets and Terror’ in Academia (Stream18),

The performative university: ‘targets and terror’ in academia Stream proposal, 10th International Critical Management Studies Conference, Liverpool, 3-5 July 2017 The year 1917 saw the advent of the Russian Revolution, which gradually gave way to the Soviet economic system that has been characterized as governed by ‘targets and terror’ and which was notorious for its almost epidemic ‘gaming’ (Bevan & Hood, 2006; Nove, 1958). The same decades that saw the gradual demise of the Soviet system also witnessed the advent of the neo-liberal policy doctrines of ‘Reinventing government’ and ‘New Public Management,’ according to which public sector organizations (including universities) should become more ‘business-like,’ intent on managing performance and building accountability on the basis of quantitative, mostly financial targets (Clegg, 2015; Diefenbach, 2009). It was a historical coincidence in relation to which Bevin & Hood (2006, p. 519) observed: ‘ironically perhaps, just as the targets system was collapsing in the USSR, the same basic approach came to be much advocated for public services in the West by those who believed in ‘results-driven government’ from the 1980s.... It resonated with the ideas put forward by economists about the power of well-chosen numéraires linked with well-crafted incentive systems.’ Exactly a century after the Russsian Revolution, due to these developments it appears that within universities not only the ‘targets and terror’ have persisted from these old and troubled times, but other totalitarian characteristics as well (Geppert & Hollinshead, 2017; Lave et al., 2010). The ‘terror’ has become manifest in the demise of older, more collegial forms of university administration and their large-scale replacement by authoritarian, top-down management by ‘professional’ managers who have no connection or affinity with academic teaching and research (Chandler et al., 2002; Parker, 2014). It has led to a division among university staff between ‘regime sweethearts,’ ‘silent collaborators,’ ‘pragmatist survivors’ and a small ‘active resistance,’ and also to a concomitant closed, anxious and defensive working climate, typical of most totalitarian systems (Alvesson & Spicer, 2016, Butler & Spoelstra, 2014; Teelken, 2012). The ‘targets’ have become manifest in the demise of older, more qualitative forms of collegial feedback and intervision and their large-scale replacement by quantitative performance measurement and management systems that reduce academic teaching and research to ‘scores’ in student surveys and abstract publication ‘points’ in journal ranking systems, respectively (Burrows, 2012; Craig et al., 2014; Mingers & Willmott, 2013). It has led to forms of performance evaluation and accountability that have become more judgmental and punitive and less developmental and supportive, thus further increasing employee anxiety and defensiveness (Kallio et al., 2016; Ter Bogt & Scapens, 2012; Visser, 2016). And, even old forms of propaganda have returned, flooding university campuses and websites with posters, banners and proclamations extolling the virtues and accomplishments of the ‘corporate university’ (Geppert & Hollinshead, 2017; Parker, 2014). In addition, government cutbacks and a neo-liberal penchant for competition and semi-markets have increasingly forced universities to compete with each other for external funds (Wigger & Buch-Hansen, 2013). This has not only led to an increasing commercialization of university teaching and research, catering to business’ interest in ‘commodified’ students and research (Wilmott, 1995), but also a increasing precariousness of university work, in which low-paid, high-stress temporary staff appointments gradually replace existing tenured staff positions and in which academic identities become insecure and fragile (Knights & Clarke, 2014; Lynch & Ivancheva, 2015). Admittedly, not all universities in all parts of the world are equally affected by these developments. The situations appears most alarming in many UK business schools, followed by business schools and faculties in the rest of the Anglo-Saxon world, while many schools and faculties on the Continent appear less affected (Craig et al., 2014; Geppert & Hollinshead, 2017; Parker, 2014; Teelken, 2012)

Prolonged Fasting Identifies Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial Dysfunction as Consequence Rather Than Cause of Human Insulin Resistance

OBJECTIVE-Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance have been associated with mitochondrial dysfunction, but it is debated whether this is a primary factor in the pathogenesis of the disease. To test the concept that mitochondrial dysfunction is secondary to the development of insulin resistance, we employed the unique model of prolonged fasting in humans. Prolonged fasting is a physiologic condition in which muscular insulin resistance develops in the presence of increased free fatty acid (FFA) levels, increased fat oxidation and low glucose and insulin levels. It is therefore anticipated that skeletal muscle mitochondrial function is maintained to accommodate increased fat oxidation unless factors secondary to insulin resistance exert negative effects on mitochondrial function. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS-While in a respiration chamber, twelve healthy males were subjected to a 60 h fast and a 60 h normal fed condition in a randomized crossover design. Afterward, insulin sensitivity was assessed using a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp, and mitochondrial function was quantified ex vivo in permeabilized muscle fibers using high-resolution respirometry. RESULTS-Indeed, FFA levels were increased approximately ninefold after 60 h of fasting in healthy male subjects, leading to elevated intramuscular lipid levels and decreased muscular insulin sensitivity. Despite an increase in whole-body fat oxidation, we observed an overall reduction in both coupled state 3 respiration and maximally uncoupled respiration in permeabilized skeletal muscle fibers, which could not be explained by changes in mitochondrial density. CONCLUSIONS-These findings confirm that the insulin-resistant State has secondary negative effects on mitochondrial function. Given the low insulin and glucose levels after prolonged fasting, hyperglycemia and insulin action per se can be excluded as underlying mechanisms, pointing toward elevated plasma FFA and/or intramuscular fat accumulation as possible causes for the observed reduction in mitochondrial capacity. Diabetes 59: 2117-2125, 201

Increased Secretion and Expression of Myostatin in Skeletal Muscle From Extremely Obese Women

OBJECTIVE—Obesity is associated with endocrine abnormalities that predict the progression of insulin resistance to type 2 diabetes. Because skeletal muscle has been shown to secrete proteins that could be used as biomarkers, we characterized the secreted protein profile of muscle cells derived from extremely obese (BMI 48.8 ± 14.8 kg/m2; homeostasis model assessment [HOMA] 3.6 ± 1.0) relative to lean healthy subjects (BMI 25.7 ± 3.2 kg/m2; HOMA 0.8 ± 0.2)

Effect of vitamin E (Tri E®) on antioxidant enzymes and DNA damage in rats following eight weeks exercise

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Exercise is beneficial to health, but during exercise the body generates reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are known to result in oxidative stress. The present study analysed the effects of vitamin E (Tri E^®) on antioxidant enzymes; superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (Cat) activity and DNA damage in rats undergoing eight weeks exercise.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty four <it>Sprague-Dawley </it>rats (weighing 320-370 gm) were divided into four groups; a control group of sedentary rats which were given a normal diet, second group of sedentary rats with oral supplementation of 30 mg/kg/d of Tri E^®, third group comprised of exercised rats on a normal diet, and the fourth group of exercised rats with oral supplementation of 30 mg/kg/d of Tri E^®. The exercising rats were trained on a treadmill for 30 minutes per day for 8 weeks. Blood samples were taken before and after 8 weeks of the study to determine SOD, GPx, Cat activities and DNA damage.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>SOD activity decreased significantly in all the groups compared to baseline, however both exercised groups showed significant reduction in SOD activity as compared to the sedentary groups. Sedentary control groups showed significantly higher GPx and Cat activity compared to baseline and exercised groups. The supplemented groups, both exercised and non exercised groups, showed significant decrease in Cat activity as compared to their control groups with normal diet. DNA damage was significantly higher in exercising rats as compared to sedentary control. However in exercising groups, the DNA damage in supplemented group is significantly lower as compared to the non-supplemented group.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In conclusion, antioxidant enzymes activity were generally reduced in rats supplemented with Tri E^®probably due to its synergistic anti-oxidative defence, as evidenced by the decrease in DNA damage in Tri E^®supplemented exercise group.</p

Impaired Cell Surface Expression of HLA-B Antigens on Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Muscle Cell Progenitors

HLA class-I expression is weak in embryonic stem cells but increases rapidly during lineage progression. It is unknown whether all three classical HLA class-I antigens follow the same developmental program. In the present study, we investigated allele-specific expression of HLA-A, -B, and -C at the mRNA and protein levels on human mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow and adipose tissue as well as striated muscle satellite cells and lymphocytes. Using multicolour flow cytometry, we found high cell surface expression of HLA-A on all stem cells and PBMC examined. Surprisingly, HLA-B was either undetectable or very weakly expressed on all stem cells protecting them from complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) using relevant human anti-B and anti-Cw sera. IFNγ stimulation for 48–72 h was required to induce full HLA–B protein expression. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR showed that IFNγ induced a 9–42 fold increase of all six HLA-A,-B,-C gene transcripts. Interestingly, prior to stimulation, gene transcripts for all but two alleles were present in similar amounts suggesting that post-transcriptional mechanisms regulate the constitutive expression of HLA-A,-B, and -C. Locus-restricted expression of HLA-A, -B and -C challenges our current understanding of the function of these molecules as regulators of CD8+ T-cell and NK-cell function and should lead to further inquiries into their expression on other cell types

Insulin Resistance Is Not Conserved in Myotubes Established from Women with PCOS

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder among premenopausal women, who often develop insulin resistance. We tested the hypothesis that insulin resistance in skeletal muscle of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an intrinsic defect, by investigating the metabolic characteristics and gene expression of in vitro differentiated myotubes established from well characterized PCOS subjects.Using radiotracer techniques, RT-PCR and enzyme kinetic analysis we examined myotubes established from PCOS subjects with or without pioglitazone treatment, versus healthy control subjects who had been extensively metabolically characterized in vivo. Results. Myotubes established from PCOS and matched control subjects comprehensively expressed all insulin-sensitive biomarkers; glucose uptake and oxidation, glycogen synthesis and lipid uptake. There were no significant differences between groups either at baseline or during acute insulin stimulation, although in vivo skeletal muscle was insulin resistant. In particular, we found no evidence for defects in insulin-stimulated glycogen synthase activity between groups. Myotubes established from PCOS patients with or without pioglitazone treatment also showed no significant differences between groups, neither at baseline nor during acute insulin stimulation, although in vivo pioglitazone treatment significantly improved insulin sensitivity. Consistently, the myotube cultures failed to show differences in mRNA levels of genes previously demonstrated to differ in PCOS patients with or without pioglitazone treatment (PLEK, SLC22A16, and TTBK).These results suggest that the mechanisms governing insulin resistance in skeletal muscle of PCOS patients in vivo are not primary, but rather adaptive.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00145340

Evidence in the learning organization

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Organizational leaders in business and medicine have been experiencing a similar dilemma: how to ensure that their organizational members are adopting work innovations in a timely fashion. Organizational leaders in healthcare have attempted to resolve this dilemma by offering specific solutions, such as evidence-based medicine (EBM), but organizations are still not systematically adopting evidence-based practice innovations as rapidly as expected by policy-makers (the knowing-doing gap problem). Some business leaders have adopted a systems-based perspective, called the learning organization (LO), to address a similar dilemma. Three years ago, the Society of General Internal Medicine's Evidence-based Medicine Task Force began an inquiry to integrate the EBM and LO concepts into one model to address the knowing-doing gap problem.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>During the model development process, the authors searched several databases for relevant LO frameworks and their related concepts by using a broad search strategy. To identify the key LO frameworks and consolidate them into one model, the authors used consensus-based decision-making and a narrative thematic synthesis guided by several qualitative criteria. The authors subjected the model to external, independent review and improved upon its design with this feedback.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The authors found seven LO frameworks particularly relevant to evidence-based practice innovations in organizations. The authors describe their interpretations of these frameworks for healthcare organizations, the process they used to integrate the LO frameworks with EBM principles, and the resulting Evidence in the Learning Organization (ELO) model. They also provide a health organization scenario to illustrate ELO concepts in application.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The authors intend, by sharing the LO frameworks and the ELO model, to help organizations identify their capacities to learn and share knowledge about evidence-based practice innovations. The ELO model will need further validation and improvement through its use in organizational settings and applied health services research.</p

Technical and Comparative Aspects of Brain Glycogen Metabolism.

It has been known for over 50 years that brain has significant glycogen stores, but the physiological function of this energy reserve remains uncertain. This uncertainty stems in part from several technical challenges inherent in the study of brain glycogen metabolism, and may also stem from some conceptual limitations. Factors presenting technical challenges include low glycogen content in brain, non-homogenous labeling of glycogen by radiotracers, rapid glycogenolysis during postmortem tissue handling, and effects of the stress response on brain glycogen turnover. Here, we briefly review aspects of glycogen structure and metabolism that bear on these technical challenges, and discuss ways these can be overcome. We also highlight physiological aspects of glycogen metabolism that limit the conditions under which glycogen metabolism can be useful or advantageous over glucose metabolism. Comparisons with glycogen metabolism in skeletal muscle provide an additional perspective on potential functions of glycogen in brain