Long-term bone marrow culture profiles in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes are not explicable by defective apoptosis

It has been suggested that increased intramedullary apoptosis may explain the paradox between peripheral blood cytopenias and the hyper- or normo-cellular bone marrow observed in the myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). We wished to see if culture performance could be related to the presence of apoptotic cells in a group of patients with MDS (12 patients) and other patients with peripheral blood cytopenias (six patients) which caused diagnostic difficulty. There was no correlation between LTBMC or adherent cell growth and the presence of apoptotic cells in the original marrow sample. A variable degree of apoptosis was observed in both groups of patients. LTBMC profiles correlated well with diagnosis but were unrelated to the extent of intramedullary apoptosis. This suggests that apoptosis is a much more ubiquitous process in disease than previously thought. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

A practical miniature long-term bone marrow culture system for investigating early myelodysplasia

A method was devised to grow haemopoietic cells in long-term bone marrow culture (LTBMC) which requires only 1 x 10(6) cells/culture. Such miniature cultures were used to study growth patterns of marrow from patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Consistent differences in LTBMC cellularity and cellular composition were noted between MDS and normal marrow. These differences were accentuated by rGM-CSF. The criteria which distinguished between and MDS marrows were: cell count at weeks 1 and 4, % neutrophils and % blasts. In 10 patients with unexplained macrocytosis or pancytopenia miniature LTBMC results clearly segregated into either 'normal' or 'MDS' growth patterns. Miniature LTBMC with rGM-CSF may therefore be a useful diagnostic test for early MDS.

A Framework for Stakeholder Management and Corporate Culture

Purpose: This paper investigates the link between two knowledge areas that have not been previously linked conceptually; stakeholder management and corporate culture. Focussing on the UK Construction Industry, the research study demonstrates mutual dependency of each of these areas on the other and establishes a theoretical framework with real potential to impact positively upon industry.

Design/methodology/approach: The study utilises both qualitative and quantitative data collection and then analysis to produce results contributing to the final framework. Semi-structured interviews were used and analysed through a cognitive mapping procedure. The result of this stage, set in the context of previous research, facilitated a questionnaire to be developed which helped gather quantitative values from a larger sample to enhance the final framework.

Findings: The data suggests that stakeholder management and corporate culture are key areas of an organisation’s success, and that this importance will only grow in future. A clearly identifiable relationship was established between the two theoretical areas and a framework developed and quantified.

Originality/value: It is evident that change is needed within the UK Construction Industry. Companies must employ ethical and social stakeholder management and manage their corporate culture like any other aspect of their business. Successfully doing this will lead to more successful projects, better reputation and survival. The findings of this project begin to show how change may occur and how companies might intentionally deploy advantageous configurations of corporate culture and stakeholder management.

Punitiveness and Political Culture: Notes from Some Small Countries

Green’s (2007, 2008, 2009) recent comparative work on child-on-child homicides in England and Norway has drawn attention to political-cultural explanations to account for differences in levels of state punitiveness. His work finds support for the distinction made by Arend Lijphart (1999) between consensus and majoritarian democracy, through his argument that English majoritarian political culture created powerful incentives to exploit the homicide of James Bulger in ways that were not present in Norway. Drawing on comparative research in Ireland, Scotland and New Zealand, this article joins with Green in enlisting political culture as an important explanatory variable yet challenges the usefulness of Lijphart’s typology in explaining penal difference.