Rural Development Group Politics. A hidden cost?

I challenge the popular notion of European rural development group dynamics and argue for a better understanding of the role of micro-politics as a means of enhancing the performance of these groups. The views are research based and have relevance to the broader rural development and regeneration sector. Micro-politics involves knowledge, power, trust, perceptions, understanding, social networks, values and traits that arise as a result of individuals interacting within a group whilst working on a shared goal, such as rural development. The monetary and time costs to a community of failing to address micro-politics and nurture positive group relations are considerable. These include time spent in unproductive meetings and poorly prioritized—and ultimately unsuccessful—funding applications as a result of failure to agree priorities. Successful groups rely on individuals interacting in a way that achieves a greater social good. Mutual trust amongst the actors lies at the heart of effective group activity. Effective management of micro-politics requires steps to nurture a culture of mutual trust to ensure that rural development actors co-operate rather than play destructive games with one another. A case study example of a relatively straightforward approach illustrates how this might be done in practice.

Genetic variants of complement factor H gene are not associated with premature coronary heart disease:A family-based study in the Irish population

Background: The complement factor H (CFH) gene has been recently confirmed to play an essential role in the development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). There are conflicting reports of its role in coronary heart disease. This study was designed to investigate if, using a family-based approach, there was an association between genetic variants of the CFH gene and risk of early-onset coronary heart disease. Methods: We evaluated 6 SNPs and 5 common haplotypes in the CFH gene amongst 1494 individuals in 580 Irish families with at least one member prematurely affected with coronary heart disease. Genotypes were determined by multiplex SNaPshot technology. Results: Using the TDT/S-TDT test, we did not find an association between any of the individual SNPs or any of the 5 haplotypes and early-onset coronary heart disease. Conclusion: In this family-based study, we found no association between the CFH gene and early-onset coronary heart disease. © 2007 Meng et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.