Promoting Research Activities and Management Reform in Universities : An Approach from Policy Sciences

Many commentators have insisted without empirical evidence that the heterogeneity of fuculty members promotes the research activities in universities. We have to examine whether or not this assertion would be valid and which element of heterogeneity may contribute to promoting research outputs. This article investigates the relationship between heterogeneity in educational background and research performance, then examines how the Science Research Grant has been allocated to faculties in economics. The result shows that the more heterogeneous faculty members are, the more the research outputs increase. The analysis also indicates that the research performance has been little considered in making decision for adoption while it has made significant effect on the amount of grant for the adopted subject

A Review Of Humpback Whales' Migration Patterns Worldwide And Their Consequences To Gene Flow

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) have a worldwide distribution in the oceans and are known for their very long migratory potential. Their migration routes consist of productive feeding areas located in high-latitudes and to low-latitude areas used as breeding and calving grounds. Genetic studies in humpback whale populations consist mainly of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. In general, these studies provide similar results to estimates of gene flow, but some discrepancies may be caused by gender-biased migration to breeding grounds and further dispersion by males. There is little evidence of trans-equatorial and inter-oceanic migrations, but those movements have been confirmed by both analysis of photo-ID of naturally marked individuals and also genetic analysis. The combination of migratory and genetic analyses suggest an overlapping of breeding grounds in low-latitude areas, where the gene flow among those oceanic populations is more likely to happen, despite the opposite seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres. These results have important implications in the conservation perspective, especially for the determination of protected areas and for development of international agreements. © 2009 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.8959951002Baker, C.S., Palumbi, S.R., Lambertsen, R.H., Weinrich, M.T., Calambokidis, J., O'Brien, S.J., Influence of seasonal migration on geographic distribution of mitochondrial DNA haplo-types in humpback whales (1990) Nature, 344, pp. 238-240Baker, C.S., Population characteristics of DNA fingerprints in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) (1993) Journal of Heredity, 84, pp. 281-290Baker, C.S., Slade, R.W., Bannister, J.L., Abernethy, R.B., Weinrich, M.T., Lien, J., Urban, J., Palumbi, S.R., Hierarchical structure of mitochondrial DNA gene flow among humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae worldwide (1994) Molecular Ecology, 3, pp. 313-327Baker, C.S., Population structure of nuclear and mito-chondrial DNA variation among humpback whales in the North Pacific (1998) Molecular Ecology, 7, pp. 695-707Berta, A., Sumich, J.L., (1999) Marine mammals, evolutionary biology. 1st edition, , San Diego, CA: Academic PressChittleborough, R.G., Dynamics of two populations of humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae (1965) Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 16, pp. 33-128Clapham, P., (1996) Humpback Whales. 1st Edition, , Stillwater, MN: Voyageur PressClapham, P., (1997) Whales of the World. 1st Edition, , Stillwater, MN: Voyageur PressClapham, P., The migration of the humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae (1998) World Marine Mammal Science Conference, , Monaco, Abstract VolumeClapham, P.J., Mead, J.G., Megaptera novaeangliae (1999) Mammalian Species, 604, pp. 1-9Craig, A.S., Herman, L.M., Gabriele, C.M., Pack, A.A., Migratory timing of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Central North Pacific varies with age, sex and reproductive status (2003) Behavior, 140, pp. 981-1001Davies, J.L., The antitropical factor in cetacean speciation (1962) Evolution, 17, pp. 107-116Dawbin, W.H., The seasonal migratory cycle of humpback whales (1966) Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises, pp. 145-170. , Norris K.S. (ed.) Berkeley: University of California PressEvans, P.G.H., (1987) The natural history of whales and dolphins. 1st edition, , New York: Facts on File PublicationsFélix, F., A preliminary assessment of the genetic diversity in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) from Ecuador and population differentiation with other southern hemisphere breeding grounds and feeding areas (2007) 59th IWC Scientific Committee Meeting, SC/59/SH11Hoelzel, A.R., Genetic structure of cetacean populations in sympa-try, parapatry, and mixed assemblages: Implications for conservation policy (1998) Journal of Heredity, 89, pp. 451-458Iwasaki, T., Kubo, N., Northbound migration of a humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae along the Pacific coast of Japan (2001) Mammal Study, 26, pp. 77-82Katona, S.K., Beard, J.A., Population size, migrations and feeding aggregations of the humpback whale in the western North Atlantic Ocean (1990) Reports of the International Whaling Commission Special Issue, 12, pp. 295-305MacKintosh, N.A., The southern stocks of whalebone whales (1942) Discovery Reports, 22, pp. 197-300MacKintosh, N.A., (1965) The stocks of whales, , London: Fishing News LtdMartin, A.R., Katona, S.K., Mattila, D., Hembree, D., Waters, T.D., Migration of humpback whales between the Caribbean and Iceland (1984) Journal of Mammalogy, 65, pp. 3330-3333Matthews, L.H., The humpback whale, Megaptera nodosa (1937) Discovery Reports, 17, pp. 7-92Mattila, D.K., Clapham, P.J., Katona, S.K., Stone, G.S., Population composition of humpback whales, Megaptera novaean-gliae, on Silver Bank, 1984. (1989) Canadian Journal of Zoology, 67, pp. 281-285Medrano-González, L., Trans-oceanic population genetic structure of humpback whales in the North and South Pacific (2001) Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 47, pp. 465-479Muñoz, E., Migrations of individually identified humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) between the Antarctic Peninsula and South America (1998) World Marine Mammal Science Conference, , Monaco, Abstract VolumeNei, M., Maruyama, T., Chakraborty, R., The bottleneck effect and genetic variability in populations (1975) Evolution, 29, pp. 1-10Palumbi, S.R., Baker, C.S., Contrasting population structure from nuclear intron sequences and mtDNA of humpback whales (1994) Molecular Biology and Evolution, 11, pp. 426-435Perkins, J.S., Bryant, P.J., Nichols, G., Patten, D.R., Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) off the west coast of Greenland (1982) Canadian Journal of Zoology, 36, pp. 521-528Pomilla, C., Rosembaum, H.C., Migrations of individually identified humpback whales between the Antarctic Peninsula and South America (2005) Journal of Cetacean Research and Management, 6, pp. 109-113. , Biology Letters 3, 302-305, doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0067, published online. Stevick P.T., Aguayo A., Allen J., Avila I.C., Capella J., Castro C., Chater K., Rosa L.D., Engel M.H., Félix F., Flórex-González L., Freitas A., Haase B., Llano M., Lodi L., Muñoz E., Olavarŕia C., Secchi E., Sheidat M. and Siciliano SStevick, P.T., De Godoy, L.P., Engel, M.H., Allen, J., A note on the movement of a humpback whale from Abrolhos Bank, Brazil to South Georgia (2006) Journal of Cetacean Research and Management, 8, pp. 297-300Stone, G.S., Whale migration record (1990) Nature 346, 705.True, W., (1904) The whalebone whales of the western North Atlantic, , Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution PressValsecchi, E., Pasboll, P., Hale, P., Glockner-Ferrari, D., Ferrari, M., Clapahm, P., Larsen, F., Amos, B., Microsatellite genetic distances between oceanic populations of the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) (1997) Molecular Biology and Evolution, 14, pp. 355-362Whitehead, H., Chu, K., Perkins, J., Bryant, P., Nichols, G., Population size, identity, and distribution of the humpback whales off west Greenland-summer 1981. (1983) Report to the International Whaling Commission, 33, pp. 497-50

Personalized nanomedicine

Abstract Personalized medicine aims to individualize chemotherapeutic interventions on the basis of ex vivo and in vivo information on patient- and disease-specific characteristics. By noninvasively visualizing how well image-guided nanomedicines-that is, submicrometer-sized drug delivery systems containing both drugs and imaging agents within a single formulation, and designed to more specifically deliver drug molecules to pathologic sites-accumulate at the target site, patients likely to respond to nanomedicine-based therapeutic interventions may be preselected. In addition, by longitudinally monitoring how well patients respond to nanomedicine-based therapeutic interventions, drug doses and treatment protocols can be individualized and optimized during follow-up. Furthermore, noninvasive imaging information on the accumulation of nanomedicine formulations in potentially endangered healthy tissues may be used to exclude patients from further treatment. Consequently, combining noninvasive imaging with tumor-targeted drug delivery seems to hold significant potential for personalizing nanomedicine-based chemotherapeutic interventions, to achieve delivery of the right drug to the right location in the right patient at the right time

Recent progress in nanomedicine: therapeutic, diagnostic and theranostic applications

In recent years, the use of nanomedicine formulations for therapeutic and diagnostic applications has increased exponentially. Many different systems and strategies have been developed for drug targeting to pathological sites, as well as for visualizing and quantifying important (patho-) physiological processes. In addition, ever more efforts have been undertaken to combine diagnostic and therapeutic properties within a single nanomedicine formulation. These so-called nanotheranostics are able to provide valuable information on drug delivery, drug release and drug efficacy, and they are considered to be highly useful for personalizing nanomedicine-based (chemo-) therapeutic intervention

Micro-computed tomography (μCT) as a novel method in ecotoxicology - determination of morphometric and somatic data in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Fish are important sentinel organisms for the assessment of water quality and play a central role in ecotoxicological research. Of particular importance to the assessment of health and fitness of fish stocks in response to environmental conditions or pollution are morphometric (e.g. Fulton's condition index) and somatic indices (e.g. hepatosomatic, and gonadosomatic index). Standard measurements of somatic indices are invasive and require, by definition, the sacrifice of examined animals, thus prohibiting longitudinal studies and relocation of animals captured in the field. As a potential solution, in the present study, we propose the use of micro-computed tomography (μCT) as imaging modality to non-invasively tomographically image rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) exposed to different sediment suspensions. We here demonstrate that μCT can be used as a tool to reliably measure the volumes of different organs, which could then be applied as a substitute of their weights in calculation of somatic indices. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to report the results of μCT analyses in the context of ecotoxicological research in rainbow trout. It has the potential to greatly increase the information value of experiments conducted with fish and also to potentially reduce the number of animals required for studying temporal effects through facilitating longitudinal studies within the same individuals

Decationized polyplexes as stable and safe carrier systems for improved biodistribution in systemic gene therapy

Many polycation-based gene delivery vectors show high transfection in vitro, but their cationic nature generally leads to significant toxicity and poor in vivo performance which significantly hampers their clinical applicability. Unlike conventional polycation-based systems, decationized polyplexes are based on hydrophilic and neutral polymers. They are obtained by a 3-step process: charge-driven condensation followed by disulfide crosslinking stabilization and finally polyplex decationization. They consist of a disulfide-crosslinked poly(hydroxypropyl methacrylamide) (pHPMA) core stably entrapping plasmid DNA (pDNA), surrounded by a shell of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). In the present paper the applicability of decationized polyplexes for systemic administration was evaluated. Cy5-labeled decationized polyplexes were evaluated for stability in plasma by fluorescence single particle tracking (fSPT), which technique showed stable size distribution for 48 h unlike its cationic counterpart. Upon the incubation of the polymers used for the formation of polyplexes with HUVEC cells, MTT assay showed excellent cytocompatibility of the neutral polymers. The safety was further demonstrated by a remarkable low teratogenicity and mortality activity of the polymers in a zebrafish assay, in great contrast with their cationic counterpart. Near infrared (NIR) dye-labeled polyplexes were evaluated for biodistribution and tumor accumulation by noninvasive optical imaging when administered systemically in tumor bearing mice. Decationized polyplexes exhibited an increased circulation time and higher tumor accumulation, when compared to their cationic precursors. Histology of tumors sections showed that decationized polyplexes induced reporter transgene expression in vivo. In conclusion, decationized polyplexes are a platform for safer polymeric vectors with improved biodistribution properties when systemically administere

Liposomal delivery of dexamethasone attenuates prostate cancer bone metastatic tumor growth in vivo

Background\ud The inflammatory tumor microenvironment, and more specifically the tumor-associated macrophages, plays an essential role in the development and progression of prostate cancer towards metastatic bone disease. Tumors are often characterized by a leaky vasculature, which - combined with the prolonged circulation kinetics of liposomes - leads to efficient tumor localization of these drug carriers, via the so-called enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) -effect. In this study, we evaluated the utility of targeted, liposomal drug delivery of the glucocorticoid dexamethasone in a model of prostate cancer bone metastases.\ud \ud Methods\ud Tumor-bearing Balb-c nu/nu mice were treated intravenously with 0.2–1.0–5.0 mg/kg/week free- and liposomal DEX for 3–4 weeks and tumor growth was monitored by bioluminescent imaging.\ud \ud Results\ud Intravenously administered liposomes localize efficiently to bone metastases in vivo and treatment of established bone metastases with (liposomal) dexamethasone resulted in a significant inhibition of tumor growth up to 26 days after initiation of treatment. Furthermore, 1.0 mg/kg liposomal dexamethasone significantly outperformed 1.0 mg/kg free dexamethasone, and was found to be well-tolerated at clinically-relevant dosages that display potent anti-tumor efficacy.\ud \ud Conclusions\ud Liposomal delivery of the glucocorticoid dexamethasone inhibits the growth of malignant bone lesions. We believe that liposomal encapsulation of dexamethasone offers a promising new treatment option for advanced, metastatic prostate cancer which supports further clinical evaluatio