Local related literature about event planning phillippines 2011
199341508
A Community Deliberative Polling Event: The Economic Impact of Walmart
This article presents the results of a deliberative poll in which members from the local community and college students from SUNY Cortland discussed the economic impact of Walmart on a small town. We review the literature concerning deliberative polling and describe the process of the deliberative polling event. Our examination of the data focuses on net changes in the participants' opinions and gross changes in the participants' opinions. We discuss the trends and implications of the opinion shifts and outline future research. The results illustrate that the process of deliberation affects changes in attitude items at both the individual and group level. A Community Deliberative Polling Event: The Economic Impact of Walmart Christopher Latimer, Karen Hempson, and J. Richard Kendrick, Jr. Social and political apathy affects both students and the broader society. Putnam (1993) contends that this phenomenon is connected to a decline in social capital, which he defines as "the features of social organization such as networks, norms, and trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit"(p. 36) Putnam thinks that citizenship is affected by social capital. Moreover, involvement in civic life has been connected to lower absenteeism and reduced apathy. Social capital theory assumes that engagement on any level will enhance social trust and efficacy in citizenship, thereby strengthening democracy. Since the 1980s, a number of methods for involving citizens and making their voices heard have been advanced. These include focus groups (Kreuger Casey, 2000; Morris, 1999; Morrison, 2003) citizen juries (Coote Lenhaglan, 1997; Smith Wales, 2000; Niemeyer Blamey, 2003) planning cells (Renn et al. 1984, 1993) citizen panels (Kathlene Martin, 1991; Bowie et al. 1995) and consensus conferences (Einseidel, 2002; Andersen Jaeger, 1999) Another approach used for involving citizens by providing them a public forum for discussion is the deliberative poll. The deliberative poll is different from other methods because it allows for estimating informed opinion while retaining the possibility of generalization to the overall population through random sampling (Fishkin, 1991, 1995, 1997; Ackerman Fishkin, 2002; Hough Park, 2002; Hansen Anderson, 2004; Luskin, Fishkin, Jowell, 2002) This article presents the findings from a deliberative polling event at SUNY Cortland. The deliberative polling method attempts to combine the depth of a qualitative analysis with the generalizability of a representative poll. Where decisions are being made without proper information, we might reasonably expect that these decisions may not entirely reflect an individual's "true" interests. Some argue that the problem of an uninformed public and disengagement could be remedied through deliberation. As James Fishkin et al. (2000) contend: While there is disagreement about how much lack of information and interest affects people's views [and engagement] it is possible that preferences would be noticeably different if everyone was more knowledgeable about, attentive to, and reflexive about the issues involved. In deliberating, it is hoped that citizens will develop informed, or more reflective, preferences than would otherwise be the case (p. 657) Those participating in a deliberative poll may shift from a position of ignorance and/or disengagement to a position of measured opinion and/or civic engagement. Fishkin argues that contemporary democracies fail to provide ordinary citizens with a means to have their voices heard. As a result, individuals believe that being informed and engaged have no utility for them. This is known as rational ignorance (Converse, Miller, Stokes, 1960) Participation in a deliberative poll may reduce the impact of an individual's rational ignorance by providing them with the incentive and opportunity to think about important policy issues and engage in a process that values their opinions. The basic design of a deliberative poll includes contacting, inviting, and polling a representative sample to attend a oneor two day deliberative polling event at a common location. Participants are then provided with carefully balanced briefing materials laying out the major arguments for and Page 40 JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND SCHOLARSHIP Vol. 4, No. 2 1 Latimer et al. A Community Deliberative Polling Event: The Economic Impact of Wa Published by Nighthawks Open Institutional Repository, 2011 Vol. 4, No. 2 JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND SCHOLARSHIP Page 41 against a given set of policy proposals, policy related issues, or electoral alternatives. The participants engage in dialogue with experts and decision makers based on questions they develop in small groups with trained unbiased moderators. After the deliberations, the sample is once more provided the original questions. The consequential changes in opinion signify the conclusions the general public would reach if they had an opportunity to discuss an issue, engage with alternative points of view, and become more informed. The goal of this project was to determine if deliberation would have any impact on participants' opinions, regardless of whether they started from a positive or negative view of the selected issue. Increased deliberation affords a unique insight into what might be a better understanding of what people are actually thinking and feeling. The investigation of the polling event in Cortland, New York, reveals that the process of deliberation affects changes in knowledge and attitude items at both the individual and aggregate levels. This analysis includes a review of the deliberative polling literature, an explanation of our hypotheses and methodology, an examination of the data, including net changes in the participants' opinions and gross changes in the participants' opinions, and finally a discussion of the implications for engagement. Literature Review There is a considerable body of research that attempts to assess the extent to which an individual's opinion would differ if that person were given time to inquire about the subject matter and given information about the topic. Deliberative Polls Through a number of deliberative polling events, Fishkin et al. (2000) have found that, following participation in such exercises, people are stimulated to learn more about politics and that opinion shifting is common. Luskin, Fishkin, and Jowell (2002) compiled a national probability sample of 301 British subjects who met for the world's first deliberative poll. The deliberation focused on the root causes of crime, policing, punishment, and procedural rights, covering matters such as the rights of the accused, those of victims and the citizenry in general, as well as juvenile matters. By the conclusion of the event, participants increased their support for sending fewer criminals to prison, relaxing sentences for juvenile offenders, and alternative sentencing models for those deemed a lesser risk to society. The premise upon which such events are organized is that the resulting deliberated opinions will be more considered as a consequence of increased interest in the issues, increases in knowledge, the exposure to multiple arguments and points of view, and more careful reflection. Hough and Park (2002) found that information and dialogue could generate important shifts in attitudes about the best ways of controlling crime. The changes they discovered were all in the identical direction, relating to a decrease in support for stronger measures such as imprisonment as a response to crime and greater support for rehabilitation. It is not unexpected that there was a quantifiable change in attitudes directly after the weekend seminar. For example, 35 percent of participants initially thought that "sending more offenders to prison" would be a very efficient way of lowering the crime rate. After the weekend, only 20 percent took this view. What is surprising is that opinion change seems to be long lasting. While 50 percent initially thought that "stiffer sentences generally" would be a very effective way of reducing crime, when followed up 10 months later only 36 percent thought the same. Support for community penalties was originally quite high and remained largely unchanged. Not all people adopted more liberal views after the event; some adopted tougher views. In general, people adopted less extreme views after the event, with a net shift in a liberal direction. Hansen and Anderson (2004) studied the results from the Danish National deliberative poll on the single currency with a representative group of 364 Danish citizens. Between 7 and 28 percent of the participants changed their viewpoint on a number of issues related to the single currency. Before participating in the deliberative poll, 45 percent of the participants indicated that they would vote yes, 37 percent no, and 18 percent did not take a stand. At the conclusion of the poll, 51 percent revealed they would vote yes, 40 percent no, and just 9 percent had not made up their minds. The participants' answers reveal a deliberative procedure dominated by considerable changes in opinion, an increase in knowledge, and an improved ability to form a reasoned opinion. Hypothesis This analysis adds to the research concerning deliberative democracy and opinion formation. It is important to emphasize that only attitude change of some kind is predicted, rather than change in any specific direction. The theory is that the involvement of such an event will move participants from a position of ignorance and disengagement to a 2 Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, Vol. 4, Iss. 2 [2011] Art. 5 https:/digitalcommons.northgeorgia.edu/jces/vol4/iss2/5 position of considered opinion and engagement. H1: Participant opinions concerning the economic implications of Walmart on a small town will have a net change after deliberation on the issues. H2: Participant opinions concern
Christopher Latimer Karen M Hempson J Richard Kendrick
154229390
AIDS councils are they promoting public participation and partnership at the local sphere of government in South Africa?
The South African National Strategic Plan of 2000 2005 and the current version of 2007 2011 on HIV and AIDS, gave effect to the establishment of AIDS councils within municipalities. Despite the existence of AIDS councils in the municipalities, there is a lack of public participation related to HIV and AIDS matters. The purpose of this article is to establish whether the policies of HIV and AIDS councils in South Africa promote public participation and partnerships at the local government level. Public participation at local government is the key principle in governance as this is where service delivery programmes are coordinated, integrated and implemented. There is very little documented evidence on the functioning of the HIV and AIDS councils at local government level in South Africa, as this is a relatively new concept. The reviewed literature focuses on issues of HIV and AIDS with specific reference to clinical care programmes but minimal information is available on how local government, as sphere of government responsible for service delivery, responds to HIV and AIDS. Only a few articles from the review directly address the governance structures of HIV and AIDS and their link to local government. Several bibliographic databases on HIV and AIDS council policies on public participation were searched. No restrictions were placed on the type of literature to be included; both peer reviewed published and grey literature were searched, as the aim was to map out what is currently understood or known about HIV and AIDS councils as the vehicle of public participation at local government level. The South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) has shown to a large extent great efforts in mandating and coordinating the HIV and AIDS matters of the country. But the SANAC mandate is encountering challenges from similar HIV and AIDS structures at provincial, metropolitan, district and local municipality levels. This is a result of failures in implementation of the mandate due to factors such as inadequate skills and competency and lack of good governance at grassroots level (Agu Onodugo, 2009) There is a need to strengthen the capacity of HIV and AIDS councils at a local level in order to affect and effect public participation.
R M Maredi
106531006
Protecting Your Assets: an Evaluation of Museum Emergency Planning Practices in New Zealand Museums
Museums around the world are often affected by major catastrophes, and yet planning for these disasters is an often neglected aspect of museum practice. New Zealand is not immune from these events, as can be seen in the recent series of serious earthquakes in Christchurch in 2010 and 2011. This dissertation considers how prepared the New Zealand museum sector is to handle unexpected events that negatively affect its buildings, staff, operations and treasured collections. The central research question was: What is the overall state of emergency planning in the New Zealand museum sector? There was a significant gap in the literature, especially in the local context, as there has been only one other comparable study conducted in Britain, and nothing locally. This dissertation makes a valuable contribution to the field of museum studies by drawing on theory from relevant areas such as crises management literature and by conducting original empirical research on a topic which has received little attention hitherto. The research employed a number of methods, including a review of background secondary sources, a survey and interviews. After contextualising the study with a number of local examples, Ian online survey was then developed an which enabled precise understanding of the nature of current museum practices and policies around emergency planning. Following this I conducted several interviews with museum professionals from a variety of institutional backgrounds which explored their thoughts and feelings behind the existing practices within the industry. The findings of the research were significant and somewhat alarming: almost 40% of the museum and galleries in New Zealand do not have any emergency plan at all, and only 11% have what they considered 'complete' plans. The research revealed a clear picture of the current width and depth of planning, as well as practices around updating the plans and training related to them. Within the industry there is awareness that planning for emergencies is important, but museum staff typically lack the knowledge and guidance needed to conduct effective emergency planning. As a result of the analysis, several practical suggestions are presented aimed at improving emergency planning practices in New Zealand museums. However this study has implications for museum studies and for current museum practice everywhere, as many of the recommendations for resolving the current obstacles and problems are applicable anywhere in the world, suggesting that New Zealand museums could become leaders in this important area.
Emily Murray
10830234
Commentary on Kypri et al. (2011) Fighting the good fight against alcohol related violence: one bar or one hour at a time?
Some years ago I had the privilege of joining the plainclothes Perth Liquor Squad on a late night tour of violent bars. I am sure I looked very much out of place, but two managers mistook me for a member of the force. Incredibly, one asked me to break up a fight I referred this request on. A second asked us what we would like to drink and was clearly stunned when we all asked for lemonades. I later learned that the venue was reputed to have a special bar reserved for the Squad, where they were served food and alcohol. For this kind of reason and a host of others such as poor training, inadequate resources, poorly worded legislation and a heavy drinking culture [1] I suggest that law enforcement approaches alone are inadequate to address the problem of bar violence. We clearly need effective universal strategies such as restricted trading hours and outlet densities. I congratulate Dr Kypri and his colleagues on their fine contribution [2] to this challenging area. With their study, three others they identify and a recent literature review [3] we now have at least 53 studies on the impact of pub trading hours on health and safety outcomes. Of these, 18 meet basic criteria of having both baseline and control data, 15 of which indicate support for the availability hypothesis, i.e. restricted hours reduce alcoholrelated harm or increased hours result in greater harm. The New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) co sponsors and co authors of the report is also to be commended for a decade long tradition of research focusing on violence in and around licensed premises (e.g [4 7] This research continues to influence policy in a positive way. Arguably, intense public debate generated by their research contributed to the 2003 Alcohol Summit in the parliament of New South Wales an extraordinary event at which all sitting MPs in Australia's oldest parliament debated alcohol policy with community representatives for a week. Numerous resolutions were passed, many focusing on the problem of late night violence around pubs [8] The tradition continued with the publication of the names of 100 pubs with the worst record for violence which, in turn, clearly influenced the Top 48 legislation introduced by the New South Wales Premier in October 2008 [9] This legislation was designed to reduce alcohol related 'assaults, glassings, intoxication and disturbance on nearby areas' and included a range of restrictions applicable between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. e.g. no new patrons admitted, no glass containers, no drinks containing more than 50% spirits and no takeaway drinks containing more than 5% alcohol by volume [9] This targeted approach on the most highrisk venues is consistent with research indicating that a small minority of pubs tend to contribute the great majority of violent incidents associated with licensed premises in entertainment districts (e.g. [5] In my experience it is rare that liquor regulation and law enforcement are informed adequately by local data. Human and computer resources are often so limited in police and licensing authorities that decisions are made without consideration of violent incidents, which are often kept on a separate database [11] Targeted approaches to liquor law enforcement certainly have potential value (e.g. [10] but, on the available evidence, if I were a citizen concerned about late night violence in my neighbourhood I would also be demanding an acrossthe board restriction on late night trading. Perhaps one of the most remarkable things about this whole literature is that adding or subtracting just 1 or 2 hours of trading after midnight can make such a substantial difference to rates of violence. Kypri et al. [2] studied a restriction from 5 a.m. to 3 a.m. and estimated a 37% reduction in late night violence. In a Perth study, bars permitted to trade just 1 or 2 hours extra after midnight were found to double the rate of late night violent incidents reported to the police [12] Since the days of the notorious '6 o'clock swill' when the bars in New South Wales opened only for 1 hour till 6 p.m. accompanied by scenes of much mayhem, industry advocates have claimed that restricted hours would speed up drinking and make the problem worse [13] This strange argument appears to have been so successful that the following 50 years have seen 10 hours of extra trading added incrementally for bars in that Australian state. The Kypri et al. [2] study suggests the need to call 'Time! on this trend. Until we have droves of well trained, moderate drinking and uncorruptable police supported by modern information systems publicly reporting violence pub by pub, we clearly need restricted late night trading hours the alleged experience of the UK relaxed liquor laws notwithstanding [3]
Addiction
Tim R Stockwell
59932951
Workplaces of the Future How are they Studied? A Literature Study of Foresight and Delphi Methods
IntroductionWorking life conditions have changed dramatically during the last few decades with a comprehensive impact on how daily work is organised in the workplace (Marklund Harenstam, 2010; Lundberg Cooper, 2011) This development highlights the question whether future challenges that influence workplaces could be met more efficiently by using futures studies methodology in working life research. A workplace, in general terms, may be defined as a place or physical location of work or employment where work is done, depending on the sector and the industry, and the nature of the core business activity. A broader definition captures aspects of modern working life such as knowledge workers, telework, flexible work arrangements and global networks. Therefore, a more suitable definition would be that a workplace is an environment that enables work to be done (de Kerchove Pollack, 2010) Thus, a modern workplace may be defined in terms of its physical, social and virtual aspects.Based on two recent research reports, the aim of this paper is to exemplify how workplaces of the future are studied in contemporary literature (Hakansta et al. 2009; Regus JB Associates, 2009) The aim is also to determine the main challenges for workplaces of the future caused by changing working life, and to compare whether the conclusions drawn in the two reports differ. The first report is a Foresight study performed by European working life researchers in a project financed by the European Commission with the aim of establishing cooperation channels for research in the area of work related innovations (Hakansta et al. 2009) The report summarises findings from a two day Foresight seminar about future workplaces. The second report focuses on business leaders' opinions about workplaces of the future. The study uses the Delphi method of interviewing experts and was conducted by Regus, a leading provider of workplace solutions, in collaboration with research consultants JB Associates (Regus JB Associates, 2009) The present paper starts with a short introduction into futures research. Thereafter the two reports on workplaces of the future are reviewed and discussed.Futures researchRegarding research into future, the main challenge is how to define the future. The future, from the Latin futurus, is something that is "about to be" and that normally includes an expectation of advancement or progressive development occurring at a later time (Merriam Webster, 1993) "The world of the future is in our making. Tomorrow is now." Eleanor Roosevelt once said, and stressed that current populations and decision makers have a huge impact on and responsibility for the state and development of the future (Roosevelt, 1963) One could also try to define the future by reasoning about its essential characteristics (Heinonen, 2010) for instance, that the future evolves in front of us. Something that was said a second ago belongs to the past and something that is going to be said in a second belongs to the future until it is expressed. As wide and endless as the sea, the future holds various possibilities and directions for development. But the sea is also deep, and only a few future possibilities reach the surface and become realised. Moreover, the future may be visualised and anticipated by using futures research methodology (Glenn et al. 2009).People have always planned for their future, and in the early 1960s research methodology started to develop, and futures research was established as a research field of its own (Myrdal, 2008) Forecasts about the future in contemporary literature are categorised in several ways. Bergman (2010) and colleagues present a typology based on whether the forecast makes truth claims and/or explanatory claims about the future state of events. A combination of these two dimensions gives four specific types of forecasts: predictions (both truth claims and explanatory claims) prognoses (truth claims, but not explanatory claims) science fiction (explanatory claims, but not truth claims) and utopias or dystopias (neither truth claims nor explanatory claims)
Susanna Toivanen
110662499
Estimation of Human Casualties from Earthquakes in Pakistan An Engineering Approach
An estimate of losses from future earthquakes is crucial to preparing for a disaster and facilitating good decision making at the local, regional, and national levels of any government. Estimates generated from loss models provide vital tools for land use planning and prioritization of retrofit and mitigation programs as well as regional and national emergency response and contingency planning. Estimation of casualty levels is essential for medical groups and agencies providing emergency services to aid their preparedness and response capabilities. Mitigation and proactive measures are fundamental to reducing not only human losses but also monetary losses. Therefore the more we know about possible disaster levels from a future earthquake, the better society can prepare for and respond to earthquakes. The most severe consequence of earthquakes is the potential enormous loss of human life. At least 75 countries suffered such loss of life during the last century. The number of fatalities in Pakistan from 1900 to 1990 due to earthquakes comes to a total of 61,773, which ranks the country eighth in the list of countries with the most earthquake deaths (Coburn and Spence 1992) A comprehensive literature review (Maqsood 2011) identified the following important factors to be considered when estimating human casualties related to earthquakes in a specific study area: 1. A definition of earthquake hazard in the study area, which could be in terms of earthquake shaking, intensity, or other ground motion parameters 2. A definition of typical building types and structural vulnerability assessed either by following an empirical or analytical approach, considering the factors affecting vulnerability, to estimate the number of buildings in different damage grades according to their specific hazard level 3. An assessment of the socio economic conditions in the study area in order to estimate the likely number of residents in different building types at the time of an earthquake There
Syed Tariq Maqsood Jochen Schwarz
74147634
Book Reviews: Health and Medicine on Display: International Expositions in the United States, 1876 1904
The great exhibitions of the nineteenth century were organised to show the industrial and cultural progress of civilisation. Many historians of recent decades have made creative use of these well documented and spectacular material surveys of modernity to explore a whole range of themes, and this has especially been the case among those interested in the history of science and technology. However, so far, comparatively few studies have analysed how issues related to medicine and health were articulated when the world was put on display. Julie K. Brown's overview of the four major American expositions between 1876 and 1904 from this perspective is thus a very welcome contribution to the literature. Brown's study is organised as a rather straightforward description and characterisation of how health and medicine were part of the consecutive exhibitions, both as organisational problems and as subjects to be displayed. She documents how health and medicine were concerns in the planning and building of the fairs. At least some medical services had to be provided on site to the many thousands of construction workers as well as to the millions of visitors. A whole range of sanitary issues had to be addressed when planning and building such massive infrastructures from scratch. Epidemics, both as fears and realities, were real threats to the economic success of these private enterprises. Furthermore, she provides a broad picture of what was displayed at each exposition and traces in some detail how many significant exhibits came about. There is no shortage of examples: companies producing medical instruments; teaching material or hospital equipment; governmental agencies overseeing or providing healthcare; and scores of private organisations involved in civic or municipal improvement, brought together in sections on 'social economy' were all competing for the visitors' attention. The descriptions are based on meticulous archival research, primarily on the work of committees and exhibition organisers, and Brown also provides a rich selection of visual material: a large number of photographs, cartoons and construction drawings are reproduced, and thirty additional images are available on the publisher's website. However, her commitment to the administrative records also structures the narrative of the events. By choosing an insider's perspective, a lot of information on how politics, organisational struggles, and economic considerations which shaped each exhibition is brought to light. The detailed study of local concerns and circumstances also provides good insights on, for example, the reactions to the high rates of accidents during the construction phase, the difficulties for various organisations to co operate on group exhibits, or the budget concerns when constructing working exhibits or commissioning models. Nevertheless, as a consequence of this chosen point of view, each part of the exhibitions is primarily described as the result of various constraints and compromises. Brown's book is intended as a survey of what was available to see and learn at these four events, and it is described as a resource for scholars to pursue more specific analyses. There are indeed many aspects that she did not have the opportunity to develop in this study, for example, how exhibits were part of ideological, professional and scientific debates, or how visitors and reviewers interpreted them. While displays rarely lived up to initial plans or educational ideals, they were heavily invested with meaning, not least because the expositions had a particular status and reached huge crowds. Furthermore, her descriptions and interpretations are very much centred on American exhibits and discussions. The fact that these expositions were highly international and that many didactic ideals, as well as exemplary displays, were from abroad, are important contexts to take into account. This monograph is an important contribution to the literature and an excellent resource for all interested in how health and medicine were put on display for the general public in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It should inspire more historians of medicine to explore the rich archives and the expository culture generated by the great exhibitions.
Frans Lundgren
31807916
To Cut Is to Cure: Can We Really Apply Z11 in Practice?
Axillary dissection has been a standard part of the local therapy of breast cancer since the popularization of the radical mastectomy by William Halstead in 1894. In 1985, 10 year outcomes from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B04 study were published and showed that in clinically node negative women, there was no survival advantage for immediate axillary dissection compared to observation and delayed dissection if clinical nodal disease developed. In addition, only about half of the patients with nodal metastases (based on the incidence of metastases in the dissection arm) went on to develop clinically evident nodal recurrence. Although this study was extremely influential in our thinking about breast cancer biology, it did not lead to the abandonment of axillary dissection, primarily because nodal status was a selection factor for the use of adjuvant systemic therapy at that time. Fast forward to the present. Sentinel node biopsy allows us to reliably stage patients as node positive or node negative. Multiple tumor characteristics, many of them molecular, are now used to determine prognosis, and adjuvant systemic therapy is widely used in both node positive and node negative breast cancer patients. In this setting, the American College of Surgeons (ACOSOG) Z11 trial was designed to address the question of whether axillary dissection is necessary for survival or local control in the context of breast conserving surgery with whole breast irradiation and systemic therapy. The answer from the study was a clear no. At a median follow up of 6.3 years, the rate of nodal recurrence in the sentinel nodeonly arm was 0.9 compared to 0.4% in the dissection arm, and there was no trend toward an improvement in disease free or overall survival with axillary dissection. Although the finding of better outcomes with the addition of treatment is always hailed as an 'advance, the ability to decrease treatment without changing outcome is often a cause for concern, and many questions are now being raised about whether we should really believe the results of Z11 and change practice. First and foremost among these issues is the closure of the study before recruitment of the planned sample size. In part, this occurred because the event rate was much lower than anticipated at the time of study design thanks to both improvements in therapy and increased uptake of screening mammography a happy event for women with breast cancer if not for statistical purists. In addition, recruitment to the study was slow, apparently because many surgeons already knew the answer to the study question. It is worth noting that study sample sizes are estimates of the number of patients needed to reliably exclude a statistically significant difference in outcomes before the actual rate of events in each group is known. In spite of failing to achieve the planned sample size, the predefined statistical analysis plan of Z11 was able to demonstrate the noninferiority of sentinel node biopsy alone for overall survival with a Pvalue of 0.008. The 95% confidence intervals of the hazard ratio for survival do not cross 1.3, the predefined point at which the treatments would not be considered equal, indicating that the results would not be expected to change with a larger sample size. Total locoregional recurrences, disease free survival, and overall survival all numerically favor the sentinel node group, suggesting that the observed results do not reflect a statistical power problem. Other concerns about the Z11 study are related to the length of follow up and its applicability to subgroups of estrogen receptor (ER) negative women and young women. The issue of length of follow up is readily addressed on the basis of other published studies of Society of Surgical Oncology 2011
Annals of Surgical Oncology
Monica Morrow Armando E Giuliano
53144236
Local stimulation induced cell death on microfluidic analysis: implication for intracellular transmission of apoptotic impact
s Neuroscience Research 71S (2011) e108 e415 e341 sity and Nup107 intensity may be a possible global index for deterioration of neuronal cells. Research fund: Presidential Grant in Aid from Shiga University of Medical Science. doi:10.1016/j.neures.2011.07.1493 P4 g02 Autophagy induced by ethanol in NG108 15 cells Tsuyoshi Takita Hiroko Inoue Grad Sch of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda Univ, Tokyo, Japan Protein degradation is an essential cellular function that, when dysregulated or impaired, can lead to a wide variety of disease such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease. The two major intracellular protein degradation system, ubiquitin proteasome system and autophagy are known. Autophagy is a catabolic process that degrades cell's own components through the lysosomal machinery. It plays a normal part in cell growth, development, and homeostasis, helping to maintain a balance between the synthesis, degradation, and subsequent recycling of cellular products. Autophagy involves the formation of a membrane around a targeted region of the cell, separating the contents from the rest of the cytoplasm. The resultant vesicle called autophagosome fuses with a lysosome. Autophagy induced by ethanol in liver has extensively studied, but less is known about relevance between ethanol and autophagy in neuronal cells which are sensitive to ethanol. In this study, we examined whether autophagy was induced by ethanol in a neurally derived clonal cell line NG108 15. LC3 II, a marker protein for autophagy was upregulated after incubation with 0.1 mM ethanol for 24 h in medium containing 1% FBS, although it was not elevated by ethanol in medium containing 10% FBS. To determine whether LC3 II accumulation is due to autophagy induction or rather a block in downstream steps, effect of chloroquine that prevents degradation of LC3 II in lysosome was examined. Treatment with chloroquine and ethanol significantly increased the levels of LC3 II as compared with treatment with ethanol alone. We also found that incubation with 0.1 mM ethanol of NG108 15 cells for 24 h did not lead to cell death. These result suggested that autophagy was induced by ethanol in NG108 15 cells without cell death. doi:10.1016/j.neures.2011.07.1494 P4 g03 Pathways involved in 6 hydroxydopamineinduced apoptosis in PC12 cells Yuji Kimura Hiroko Inoue Grad Sch of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda Univ, Tokyo, Japan Neurodegeneration is a multifaceted process that leads to progressive neuronal death, and one of the key factors underlying it is intracellular stress. Increased oxidative stress and dysfunction of the mitochondria are implicated in many neurodegenerative diseases. 6 Hydroxydopamine (6 OHDA) a hydroxylated analog of dopamine, is widely used in both in vivo and in vitro models that mimic the characteristic neuronal degeneration of Parkinson's disease (PD) 6 OHDA can selectively destroy catecholaminergic neurons and causes cellular mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and apoptosis, which correlate with phenomena associated with the human disease. Recent studies have reported that 6 OHDA induces caspase 8 activation as well as caspase 3. Caspase 8 is implicated as an initiator caspase in death receptor induced signaling to apoptosis and is related to extra mitochondrial activation. However, the detailed molecular mechanism of 6 OHDA induced apoptosis remains to be elucidated. In this study, we attempted to clarify the pathways involved in 6 OHDA induced apoptosis using PC12 cells. First, we confirmed that treatment of 6 OHDA decreased cell viability and increased intracellular ROS level. We also verified that cleaved caspase 3 and Bax levels were upregulated by 6 OHDA, and that caspase 8 was involved in 6 OHDAinduced cell death. We next examined whether caspase 12 was activated by 6 OHDA. Caspase 12 is suggested to be specific to the apoptotic mechanism downstream of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. When PC12 cells were incubated with 6 OHDA, caspase 12 was found to be activated. Therefore, ER stress may play a role in the induction of insults by 6 OHDA. doi:10.1016/j.neures.2011.07.1495 P4 g04 Neuroprotective effect of JM 1232( in rat hippocampal slice cultures Takahiro Ogura 1 Tsuyoshi Hamada 2, Tomiei Kazama 1, Yasushi Kobayashi 2 1 Dept of Anesth, National Defense Medical College, Saitama, Japan 2 Dept of Anatomy, National Defense Medical College, Saitama, Japan JM 1232( (JM) is a novel isoindoline derivative which shows sedative and hypnotic activities through the benzodiazepine site of aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptors. Although the neuroprotective effect of other GABAA receptor agonist was known and several biological effects of JM were reported, the protective effect of JM on neural tissues was not reported yet. We therefore evaluated the neuroprotective effect of JM against oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) using rat hippocampal slice cultures. Hippocampi were isolated from P8 Wistar rats and cut into slices 400 m thick. The slices were cultured for 14 days and assigned to control and drug administered groups. First, as model ischemic injury in the brain, slices were subjected to OGD for 60 min. JM was administered to the medium from the start of OGD. Cell death was quantified using propidium iodide fluorescence at 24 hours after OGD. JM showed significant neuroprotective effect on pyramidal neurons in hippocampal slices at 500 M concentration. Next, we analyzed the changes of Ca2+ concentration during 10 min OGD and reoxygenation period in CA1 pyramidal neurons using fluorescence of Oregon Green BAPTA 1. The increase of Ca2+ concentration during OGD was significantly lower when JM was administered in the medium. This effect of JM was abolished by flumazenil, a benzodiazepine receptor antagonist. These findings indicated that JM has neuroprotective effects that were mediated by GABAA receptor. Finally, to characterize the molecular mediators of JM, we performed gene expression profiling using microarray technology for total RNA samples that were extracted from cultured slices 6 hours after the OGD. We found expression changes in several genes. We are planning to discuss the involvement of these genes in neuroprotective effects of JM. doi:10.1016/j.neures.2011.07.1496 P4 g05 Local stimulation induced cell death on microfluidic analysis: implication for intracellular transmission of apoptotic impact Yoshikuni Edagawa 1,2 Taku Watanabe 2,3, Masaru Fujii 3, Kentaro Kawai 3,4, Shuichi Shoji 2,3 1 Waseda Institute for Advanced Study, Tokyo, Japan 2 Inst BioMed Eng, ASMeW, Waseda Univ, Tokyo, Japan 3 Fac Sci Eng, Waseda Univ, Tokyo, Japan 4 Grad Sch Eng, Osaka Univ, Osaka, Japan Manipulating single cell(s) and micro scale analyzing of the local, subcellular events of the cell(s) should be beneficial for understanding of cell function and characteristics. We have proposed a micro chip technology for microculture system of individual single cells by using a novel microfluidic device that succeeded to isolate and incubate of single cells. In the present paper, we demonstrated the local drug exposure system by controlling the position of interface of drug solutions in the micro scale space of the device. This system enabled the stimulation on a part of a single cell, and the monitoring of an apoptotic procedure in the single cell. Individual PC12 cells were isolated from the cell suspension of 105 cells and incubated at least 7 days inside the micro device with stimulation of NGF for induction of neurite(s) outgrowth of the cells. Neurite(s) elongated from the single cell in the micro channel of the device was selected and exposed by a drug solution on the local targeted area with the laminar flowing of the solutions. The single PC12 cell was exposed locally on 2 uM staurosporine, an apoptosis inducer, and was monitored the activation of caspase 3, 7 in the soma. These results demonstrated that the present micro system enabled the analysis of apoptotic impact on a local area, and should contribute to elucidate the effect of local stimulation on systemic event(s) of apoptosis of the whole cell. doi:10.1016/j.neures.2011.07.1497 P4 g06 The effect of NEDD9 and p130Cas on Cas/HEF1 associated signal transducer induced neuronal death Fujiya Gomi Yoko Uchida Molecular Neurobiology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan A is a causative factor in Alzheimer's disease. However the precise mechanism of A neurotoxicity is not elucidated. To explore the mechanism of Ab neurotoxicity, the effect of A on gene expression of neuron was examined comprehensively. There were 23 candidate genes out of about 22,000 genes
Neuroscience Research
Yoshikuni Edagawa Taku Watanabe Masaru Fujii Kentaro Kawai Shuichi Shoji
55550762
Depleting tropical forest at a landscape scale: Finding solutions for Bangladesh
Drastic deforestation is a major problem of Bangladesh which is contributing to negative downstream impacts on the environment. To address this problem various measures should be taken at different scales. The main objective of this paper is to suggest the possible steps that Bangladesh could take and reverse the trend of deforestation. An extensive literature review and interviews with government officials, professionals and NGO workers have been used to collect relevant information on the agents of deforestation in the country. Based on the information gathered, this paper presents the reasons for the extent of deforestation, and suggests some positive steps where the Government could be the main mitigating actor by implementing integrated programmes, which will also ensure mass awareness and wider impact. Local NGOs and international bodies must also formulate adequate plans to protect valuable areas of remaining forest. Key words: lichens, bioindicators, atmospheric pollution, environmental health. T. Sunderland 1 M. G. Kibria S. A. Rahman A. Imtiaj 1 Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Bogor Barat 16680, Indonesia. 2 University of Information Technology and Sciences (UITS) Rajshahi Campus, Rajshahi 6000, Bangladesh. 3 *Poverty Environment Network (PEN) Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Bogor Barat 16680, Indonesia; and Department of Sociology, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi 6205, Bangladesh. 4Department of Botany, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi 6205, Bangladesh. T.Sunderland@cgiar.org Journal of Biodiversity and Ecological Sciences JBES IAU of Tonekabon Branch Tonekabon, Iran info@jbes.ir Received Date:Dec/8/2010 Accepted Date:Jan/27/2011 Original Article No.1, Vol.1, Issue1 ISSN: 2008 9287 Winter 2011 JBES Journal of Biodiversity and Ecological Sciences S. A. Rahman et al. No.1, Vol.1, Issue1 54 Journal of Biodiversity and Ecological Scienses Introduction Forest statistics in Bangladesh is anybody's guess; a real number in percentage for the forest area is hard to come by. The National Forest and Tree Resources Assessment 2005 2007 classified approximately 10% of the surface area of the country under forest [1] The validity of the statistics remains questionable. Available data suggests that 90% of Bangladesh's forestry are lost or degraded due to the various pressures of a growing population (with an already existing base of 162 million people) development interventions, gaps in policy and legislation, and conflicting institutional mandates [2, 3, 4) The protected area network of the country represents 1.4% of the surface area, one of the smallest proportions of protected forest in the world. Even though the current deforestation rate is low (less than 1 percent) Bangladesh is at a major risk of losing its forest resources and biodiversity unless the trend is reversed [5] One eighth of the country's land area is affected by deforestation due to land clearances for agriculture, principally through shifting cultivation in the hill forests [3] Other causes of forest loss include forest land encroachments, grazing, fire, uncontrolled commercial and subsistence logging, and fuel wood collection [6] While existing forest cover is lost on a large scale, there are very small gains by afforestation of denuded areas and newly accreted land. Local wood supply cannot keep up with the demand for raw materials resulting in shortages and increased use of imports. Biomass fuels are predominantly used in household cooking. Outdated inefficient technology is evident in forest resource harvesting and manufacturing, resulting in unnecessary wastage. In this context, forest should recieve special attention from the government, and the people should be more concerned. Each and every country requires one fourth of her surface area under forest, which is congenial to ecological balance. But Bangladesh is far short of this equation. To arrest or at least to minimize the processes and drivers of deforestation, mass awareness should be taken into serious consideration. The multifaceted importance of forest in the lives of the country's inhabitants and the danger of deforestation should be well publicized and to build up of public awareness, as well as adoption of serious different measures should take by the government, NGOs and other social organizations, should be in order. The core objective of this paper is to suggest that awareness measures against drastic deforestation, could halt and reverse the trend of deforestation in Bangladesh. Material and Methods Content analysis and interviews have been used for this study. For content analysis, different types of government and Winter 2011 Depleting Tropical Forest JBES 55 nongovernment literature were used to obtain relevant information related to deforestation. In addition, interviews with government officials, other professionals and NGO workers have been used to elicit their experience and vision about the main reasons for forest depletion in Bangladesh as well as prospective management prospects. Results and Discussion Extent and Reason of Deforestation Bangladesh's natural forests are controlled by the government Forest Department and fall broadly under three main classes: hill forests, inland deciduous Sal forests, and the Sundarbans mangrove forests. Inventories show an overall depletion in forest stocks in all the major forests [1] However, the net deforestation rate is more severe than the official statistics suggest. It is very difficult to estimate the real picture indeed. Hill Forests This type of forest is tropical moist evergreen and semi evergreen in nature and occurs in the greater Chittagong, CHT and Sylhet region and comprises roughly 38.2% of the country's total forest [1] The main species represented are in the family Dipterocarpaceae and its associates including also a portion of plantation species. The main causes of depletion of hill forest are shifting cultivation and sustained over exploitation. A system of clear felling followed by artificial regeneration has been practiced in the hill forest for long period and these areas were not replanted with adequate management and silvicultural practices in place. The establishment of plantations is problematic in the clear felled areas due to encroachment of the land for agricultural conversion, particularly swidden agriculture by minority and other ethnic groups, human habitation and livestock grazing. [7, 4] The international boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar is in this hill forest area and the Rohynga refugees of up to 1 million were forced to take shelter in the hill forests area in the early 1990's due to military oppression in that part of Myanmar adjacent to Bangladesh. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees is working to repatriate them to Myanmar and an estimated quarter of them have already returned. In the meantime, the result of the slow negotiation process is the consequential scale of destruction of a large part of the forest due to shifting cultivation and timber extraction. This has put added fuel to fire of destruction which was already undertaken previously by local illegal timber traders. The Sal (Shorea spp) Forests The Sal forests fall under the tropical moist deciduous forest class (greater Dhaka, Mymenshing, Tangail, Rangpur and Dinjapur region) which constitutes about 2.3% of the total forest [1] Considerable forest destruction occurred during the liberation war S. A. Rahman et al. No.1, Vol.1, Issue1 56 Journal of Biodiversity and Ecological Scienses of Bangladesh in 1970 in the country as a whole and particularly in the Sal forests. The natural Sal forests were previously managed by clear felling for timber followed by coppice regeneration. The Government banned the felling process realizing the fact that the forest had degraded due to excessive felling and coppicing. But the law was unable to protect this natural deciduous forest. these central and northern part of the country are the most densely populated and the main cause of the depletion of these forests was due to land clearance for agriculture and forest land encroachment. More than half of the total Sal forest has already been depleted. The remaining patches are in poor condition, degraded and in the process of being lost. Some measures by the government and also non governmental organizations were taken to involve farmers in forestry i.e. agroforestry and community woodlot plantations. However, this was ineffective in halting the deforestation process and encroachment. Arguably due to the negligence and corruption of the government forest department staff and the extended support of the local political leaders to those responsible for encroachment. Recently, another problem has been cited that the farmers who participated in the community forestry programs are not getting their share from the harvesting of the timber crop. Initially all shareholders agreed to the program that the profits will be distributed to them according to an agreed predetermined ratio. However, due to lack of proper management and prompt response from the government FD when the plantations have reached to the harvesting age for the first rotation, the farmers stopped looking after the plantations. Mature trees are now being felled and taken away by the illicit loggers taking this opportunity due to the inactivity of farmers. Once the trust of the farmers is lost, then it will be very difficult for government FD to regain and hope to implement this type of participatory approach of forestry practice in future. Encroachment and illicit removal of timber and firewood from the forests are the major forest conservation problems in the area. The Sal forests are under constant human pressure from all sides as there were no boundaries or demarcations off the forest. The forests are in patches, intermingled with private agricultural lands and habitations encircling that small block of forest. The
Terry C H Sunderland Mohammad Golam Kibria Syed Ajijur Rahman Ahmed Imtiaj