The challenges of abundance: epithelial junctions and small GTPase signalling

Small GTPases of the Ras superfamily play critical roles in epithelial biogenesis. Many key morphogenetic functions occur when small GTPases act at epithelial junctions, where they mediate an increasingly complex interplay between cell-cell adhesion molecules and fundamental cellular processes, such as cytoskeletal activity, polarity and trafficking. Important recent advances in this field include the role of additional members of the Ras superfamily in cell-cell contact stability and the capacity for polarity determinants to regulate small GTPase signalling. Interestingly, small GTPases may participate in the cross-talk between different adhesive receptors: in tissues classical cadherins can selectively regulate other junctions through cell signalling rather than through a global influence on cell-cell cohesion.

Challenges for simultaneous nitrification, denitrification, and phosphorus removal in microbial aggregates: mass transfer limitation and nitrous oxide production

The microbial community composition and activity was investigated in aggregates from a lab-scale bioreactor, in which nitrification, denitrification and phosphorus removal occurred simultaneously. The biomass was highly enriched for polyphosphate accumulating organisms facilitating complete removal of phosphorus from the bulk liquid; however, some inorganic nitrogen still remained at the end of the reactor cycle. This was ascribed to incomplete coupling of nitrification and denitrification causing NO3- accumulation. After 2 h of aeration, denitrification was dependent on the activity of nitrifying bacteria facilitating the formation of anoxic zones in the aggregates; hence, denitrification could not occur without simultaneous nitrification towards the end of the reactor cycle. Nitrous oxide was identified as a product of denitrification, when based on stored PHA as carbon source. This observation is of critical importance to the outlook of applying PHA-driven denitrification in activated sludge processes. (c) 2004 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Somatic embryogenesis in sugarcane - An addendum to the invited review 'Sugarcane biotechnology: The challenges and opportunities,' in vitro cell. Dev. Biol. Plant 41(4): 345-363; 2005

Since the 1960s, numerous studies on sugarcane plant regeneration have been reported. Essentially, successful culture and regeneration of plants from protoplasts, cells, callus, and various tissue and organs, have been achieved in this crop. Although plant regeneration from callus cultures had been reported since the 1960s, definitive proof of somatic embryo development was not available until 1983. Since then, considerable progress has been made in understanding and refining somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration in sugarcane, for which development of an efficient embryogenic system was critical for the application of transgenic technology. Recent research in Australia and South Africa has led to the development of direct somatic embryogenic systems, which may improve transgenesis in sugarcane.

Bringing hope to crisis: critical thinking, ethical action and social change

This paper departs from this point to consider whether and how crisis thinking contributes to practices of affirmative critique and transformative social action in late-capitalist societies. I argue that different deployments of crisis thinking have different ‘affect-effects’ and consequences for ethical and political practice. Some work to mobilize political action through articulating a politics of fear, assuming that people take most responsibility for the future when they fear the alternatives. Other forms of crisis thinking work to heighten critical awareness by disrupting existential certainty, asserting an ‘ethics of ambiguity’ which assumes that the continuous production of uncertain futures is a fundamental part of the human condition (de Beauvoir, 2000). In this paper, I hope to illustrate that the first deployment of crisis thinking can easily justify the closing down of political debate, discouraging radical experimentation and critique for the sake of resolving problems in a timely and decisive way. The second approach to crisis thinking, on the other hand, has greater potential to enable intellectual and political alterity in everyday life—but one that poses considerable challenges for our understandings of and responses to climate change...

Thinking and acting strategically:new challenges for interrogating strategy

This paper takes a critical and evaluative stance toward micro-activity-based approaches to understanding strategy. It argues that such approaches bring with them important theoretical and empirical challenges. The paper argues against a tendency to reductionism without equal emphasis to the contextual influences that bound micro-strategising. Finally, the paper argues for a more international and comparative approach to micro-strategy studies than has currently been the case.

How can systematic reviews incorporate qualitative research? A critical perspective

Systematic review has developed as a specific methodology for searching for, appraising and synthesizing findings of primary studies, and has rapidly become a cornerstone of the evidence-based practice and policy movement. Qualitative research has traditionally been excluded from systematic reviews, and much effort is now being invested in resolving the daunting methodological and epistemological challenges associated with trying to move towards more inclusive forms of review. We describe our experiences, as a very diverse multidisciplinary group, in attempting to incorporate qualitative research in a systematic review of support for breastfeeding. We show how every stage of the review process, from asking the review question through to searching for and sampling the evidence, appraising the evidence and producing a synthesis, provoked profound questions about whether a review that includes qualitative research can remain consistent with the frame offered by current systematic review methodology. We conclude that more debate and dialogue between the different communities that wish to develop review methodology is needed, and that attempts to impose dominant views about the appropriate means of conducting reviews of qualitative research should be resisted so that innovation can be fostered. Copyright © 2006 SAGE Publications.

The domain of organizational cognitive neuroscience:theoretical and empirical challenges

In this editorial, the authors respond to the 2011 article in the Journal of Management by Becker, Cropanzano, and Sanfey, titled “Organizational Neuroscience: Taking Organizational Theory Inside the Neural Black Box.” More specifically, the authors build on the ideas of Becker et al. first to clarify and extend their work and then to explore the critical philosophical issues involved in drawing inferences from neuroscientific research. They argue that these problems are yet to be solved and that organizational researchers who wish to incorporate neuroscientific advances into their work need to engage with them.

Missing links:building critical social ties for global collaborative teamwork

Face-to-face meetings may be invaluable, but they are not a panacea for the challenges facing teams spread around the globe - managers must also prioritize activities before and after these meetings to help team members stay connected.

Industrial networks of the future:a critical commentary on research and practice

Academia has followed the interest by companies in establishing industrial networks by studying aspects such as social interaction and contractual relationships. But what patterns underlie the emergence of industrial networks and what support should research provide for practitioners? Firstly, it seems that manufacturing is becoming a commodity rather than a unique capability, which accounts especially for low-technology approaches in downstream parts of the network, for example in assembly operations. Secondly, the increased tendency to specialize forces other parts of industrial networks to introduce advanced manufacturing technologies for niche markets. Thirdly, the capital market for investments in capacity and the trade in manufacturing as a commodity dominates resource allocation to a larger extent. Fourthly, there will be a continuous move toward more loosely connected entities forming manufacturing networks. More traditional concepts, like keiretsu and chaibol networks, do not sufficiently support this transition. Research should address these fundamental challenges to prepare for the industrial networks of 2020 and beyond.

'Your situation is critical...':the discursive enactment of leadership by business women in Middle Eastern and Western European contexts

Women remain in a small minority as business leaders in both Middle Eastern (ME) and Western European (WE) regions, and indeed, past research indicates that ME women face even greater challenges as leaders than their Western counterparts. This article explores sample findings from two separate case studies, the first of a ME woman leader and the second of a WE woman leader, each conducting a management meeting with their teams. Using interactional sociolinguistic analysis, we examine the 'contextualisation cues' that index how each woman performs leadership in their respective meetings. We found that both women utilise relational practices in order to enact leadership with their subordinates, but with varying results. Whereas the ME leader deploys a confident and commanding interactional style with her colleagues, the WE leader's style is evasive and uncertain. On the basis of these two cases, the WE leader appears to face greater challenges in a male-dominated business world than the ME leader. Whereas the ME leader can rely on long-established ties of loyalty and organisation-as-family, the Western leader, within an apparently more open, democratic context, has to negotiate overwhelming turbulence and change within her company. © 2014, equinox publishing.

Strategic sourcing supplier selection misalignment with critical success factors:findings from multiple case studies in Germany and the United Kingdom

Strategic sourcing plays an important role in organisations' performance. Strategic sourcing has been researched extensively using empirical studies as well as review work, such as strategic sourcing importance, issues and challenges, processes, source selection criteria and framework. However, there is no research on critical success factors for strategic sourcing specific to industry and country. This research aims to qualitatively evaluate and understand the current role of strategic sourcing, the critical success factors for business performance and its relationship with strategic sourcing, and strategic supplier evaluation criteria from multiple stakeholders' perspectives specific to industry and country. This research studies twenty organisations from Germany and the United Kingdom (UK) covering two industry sectors - electronics manufacturing and construction. We consider five organisations from each industry sector and each country. The findings from twenty case studies reveal comparative analysis of strategic sourcing practices of two countries and two industries.

Cross-institutional development of an online open course for educators:confronting current challenges and imagining future possibilities

The Global Dimensions in Higher Education module is a fully online open course for educators, jointly developed by three UK universities through a process of consultation and inquiry involving colleagues within the global education sector. The purpose of the module is two-fold. Firstly, to engage academics within and beyond the partner institutions in a critical exploration of transnational and global issues within higher education. Secondly, to provide the project partners with an opportunity to understand and address the challenges of jointly developing and delivering an online course that is to be offered both openly as well as integrated within credit-bearing and continued professional development provision for academics in the partner institutions. This short paper describes progress to date in developing the Global Dimensions in Higher Education module, our current activity focused on validating and implementing the module, and lessons learned to be considered for the collaborative development of open online courses.

Theorising noncitizenship:concepts, debates and challenges

Existing political theory, particularly which deals with justice and/or rights, has long assumed citizenship as a core concept. Noncitizenship, if it is considered at all, is generally defined merely as the negation or deprivation of citizenship. As such, it is difficult to examine successfully the status of noncitizens, obligations towards them, and the nature of their role in political systems. This article addresses this critical gap by defining the theoretical problem that noncitizenship presents and demonstrating why it is an urgent concern. It surveys the contributions to the special issue for which the article is an introduction, drawing on cross-cutting themes and debates to highlight the importance of theorising noncitizenship due to both the problematic gap that exists in the theoretical literature, and the real world problems created as a result of noncitizenship which are not currently successfully addressed. Finally, the article discusses key future directions for the theorisation of noncitizenship.

Technology in Parkinson's disease:challenges and opportunities

The miniaturization, sophistication, proliferation, and accessibility of technologies are enabling the capture of more and previously inaccessible phenomena in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, more information has not translated into a greater understanding of disease complexity to satisfy diagnostic and therapeutic needs. Challenges include noncompatible technology platforms, the need for wide-scale and long-term deployment of sensor technology (among vulnerable elderly patients in particular), and the gap between the "big data" acquired with sensitive measurement technologies and their limited clinical application. Major opportunities could be realized if new technologies are developed as part of open-source and/or open-hardware platforms that enable multichannel data capture sensitive to the broad range of motor and nonmotor problems that characterize PD and are adaptable into self-adjusting, individualized treatment delivery systems. The International Parkinson and Movement Disorders Society Task Force on Technology is entrusted to convene engineers, clinicians, researchers, and patients to promote the development of integrated measurement and closed-loop therapeutic systems with high patient adherence that also serve to (1) encourage the adoption of clinico-pathophysiologic phenotyping and early detection of critical disease milestones, (2) enhance the tailoring of symptomatic therapy, (3) improve subgroup targeting of patients for future testing of disease-modifying treatments, and (4) identify objective biomarkers to improve the longitudinal tracking of impairments in clinical care and research. This article summarizes the work carried out by the task force toward identifying challenges and opportunities in the development of technologies with potential for improving the clinical management and the quality of life of individuals with PD. © 2016 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

E-commerce evolution in Hungary: an investigation of critical succes factor

In this paper we highlight how the use of internet has changed from 2004 to 2009 among Hungarian companies, how their expectations about the role of e-commerce as a competitive advantage has evolved and whether perceived benefits of e-commerce show a shift from 2004 to 2009.We investigate the role of environmental factors and market orientation as two relevant types of critical success factors proposed by the management literature and measure their impacts on Internet usage, expectations about e-commerce and perceived benefits of ecommerce. Our findings suggest that market orientation has a positive effect on Internet usage and perceived benefits of e-commerce. Internet usage and expectations are dependent on the vulnerability of the company to its macroeconomic environment. The positive outcomes of joining the EU seem to influence whether a company is able to exploit e-commerce benefits.