Dynamic compression improves biosynthesis of human zonal chondrocytes from osteoarthritis patients

Objective: We hypothesize that chondrocytes from distinct zones of articular cartilage respond differently to compressive loading, and that zonal chondrocytes from osteoarthritis (OA) patients can benefit from optimized compressive stimulation. Therefore, we aimed to determine the transcriptional response of superficial (S) and middle/deep (MD) zone chondrocytes to varying dynamic compressive strain and loading duration. To confirm effects of compressive stimulation on overall matrix production, we subjected zonal chondrocytes to compression for 2 weeks. Design: Human S and MD chondrocytes from osteoarthritic joints were encapsulated in 2% alginate, pre-cultured, and subjected to compression with varying dynamic strain (5, 15, 50% at 1 Hz) and loading duration (1, 3, 12 h). Temporal changes in cartilage-specific, zonal, and dedifferentiation genes following compression were evaluated using quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The benefits of long-term compression (50% strain, 3 h/day, for 2 weeks) were assessed by measuring construct glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content and compressive moduli, as well as immunostaining. Results: Compressive stimulation significantly induced aggrecan (ACAN), COL2A1, COL1A1, proteoglycan 4 (PRG4), and COL10A1 gene expression after 2 h of unloading, in a zone-dependent manner (P < 0.05). ACAN and PRG4 mRNA levels depended on strain and load duration, with 50% and 3 h loading resulting in highest levels (P < 0.05). Long-term compression increased collagen type II and ACAN immunostaining and total GAG (P < 0.05), but only S constructs showed more PRG4 stain, retained more GAG (P < 0.01), and developed higher compressive moduli than non-loaded controls. Conclusions: The biosynthetic activity of zonal chondrocytes from osteoarthritis joints can be enhanced with selected compression regimes, indicating the potential for cartilage tissue engineering applications. © 2012 Osteoarthritis Research Society International.

Anticipating user experience with a desired product : the AUX Framework

Positive user experience (UX) has become a key factor in designing interactive products. It acts as a differentiator which can determine a product’s success on the mature market. However, current UX frameworks and methods do not fully support the early stages of product design and development. During these phases, assessment of UX is challenging as no actual user-product interaction can be tested. This qualitative study investigated anticipated user experience (AUX) to address this problem. Using the co-discovery method, participants were asked to imagine a desired product, anticipate experiences with it, and discuss their views with another participant. Fourteen sub-categories emerged from the data, and relationships among them were defined through co-occurrence analysis. These data formed the basis of the AUX framework which consists of two networks which elucidate 1) how users imagine a desired product and 2) how they anticipate positive experiences with that product. Through this AUX framework, important factors in the process of imagining future products and experiences were learnt, including the way in which these factors interrelate. Focusing on and exploring each component of the two networks in the framework will allow designers to obtain a deeper understanding of the required pragmatic and hedonic qualities of product, intended uses of product, user characteristics, potential contexts of experience, and anticipated emotions embedded within the experience. This understanding, in turn, will help designers to better foresee users’ underlying needs and to focus on the most important aspects of their positive experience. Therefore, the use of the AUX framework in the early stages of product development will contribute to the design for pleasurable UX.

The Attack on Political Correctness: Islamophobia and the Erosion of Multiculturalism In Australia Under the Howard Regime

This article reports on civil society in Australia between 1996 and 2007 related to former Prime Minister John Howard. The article discusses Howard's neo-conservative ideology and Liberal-National coalition, noting his views on political correctness. Howard's administration is also discussed in terms of immigration, multiculturalism, indigenous land rights, othering, and Islamaphobia. Information on the effect of Islamaphobia on Australian perceptions and the treatment of Muslims is also provided

Characteristics of foot structure and footwear associated with hallux valgus : a systematic review

Objective Factors associated with the development of hallux valgus (HV) are multifactorial and remain unclear. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate characteristics of foot structure and footwear associated with HV. Design Electronic databases (Medline, Embase, and CINAHL) were searched to December 2010. Cross-sectional studies with a valid definition of HV and a non-HV comparison group were included. Two independent investigators quality rated all included papers. Effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated (standardized mean differences (SMDs) for continuous data and risk ratios (RRs) for dichotomous data). Where studies were homogeneous, pooling of SMDs was conducted using random effects models. Results A total of 37 papers (34 unique studies) were quality rated. After exclusion of studies without reported measurement reliability for associated factors, data were extracted and analysed from 16 studies reporting results for 45 different factors. Significant factors included: greater first intermetatarsal angle (pooled SMD = 1.5, CI: 0.88–2.1), longer first metatarsal (pooled SMD = 1.0, CI: 0.48–1.6), round first metatarsal head (RR: 3.1–5.4), and lateral sesamoid displacement (RR: 5.1–5.5). Results for clinical factors (e.g., first ray mobility, pes planus, footwear) were less conclusive regarding their association with HV. Conclusions Although conclusions regarding causality cannot be made from cross-sectional studies, this systematic review highlights important factors to monitor in HV assessment and management. Further studies with rigorous methodology are warranted to investigate clinical factors associated with HV.

Politicians : Be killed or survive

In the course of history, a large number of politicians have been assassinated. To investigate this phenomenon, rational choice hypotheses are developed and tested using a large data set covering close to 100 countries over a period of 20 years. Several strategies, in addition to security measures, are shown to significantly reduce the probability of politicians being attacked or killed: extended institutional and governance quality, democracy, voice and accountability, a well-functioning system of law and order, decentralization via the division of power and federalism, larger cabinet size and a stronger civil society. There is also support for a contagion effect.

Social innovation and social enterprise : evidence from Australia

‘Social innovation’ is a construct increasingly used to explain the practices, processes and actors through which sustained positive transformation occurs in the network society (Mulgan, G., Tucker, S., Ali, R., Sander, B. (2007). Social innovation: What it is, why it matters and how can it be accelerated. Oxford:Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship; Phills, J. A., Deiglmeier, K., & Miller, D. T. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 6(4):34–43, 2008.). Social innovation has been defined as a “novel solution to a social problem that is more effective, efficient, sustainable, or just than existing solutions, and for which the value created accrues primarily to society as a whole rather than private individuals.” (Phills,J. A., Deiglmeier, K., & Miller, D. T. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 6 (4):34–43, 2008: 34.) Emergent ideas of social innovation challenge some traditional understandings of the nature and role of the Third Sector, as well as shining a light on those enterprises within the social economy that configure resources in novel ways. In this context, social enterprises – which provide a social or community benefit and trade to fulfil their mission – have attracted considerable policy attention as one source of social innovation within a wider field of action (see Leadbeater, C. (2007). ‘Social enterprise and social innovation: Strategies for the next 10 years’, Cabinet office,Office of the third sector http://www.charlesleadbeater.net/cms xstandard/social_enterprise_innovation.pdf. Last accessed 19/5/2011.). And yet, while social enterprise seems to have gained some symbolic traction in society, there is to date relatively limited evidence of its real world impacts.(Dart, R. Not for Profit Management and Leadership, 14(4):411–424, 2004.) In other words, we do not know much about the social innovation capabilities and effects of social enterprise. In this chapter, we consider the social innovation practices of social enterprise, drawing on Mulgan, G., Tucker, S., Ali, R., Sander, B. (2007). Social innovation: What it is, why it matters and how can it be accelerated. Oxford: Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship: 5) three dimensions of social innovation: new combinations or hybrids of existing elements; cutting across organisational, sectoral and disciplinary boundaries; and leaving behind compelling new relationships. Based on a detailed survey of 365 Australian social enterprises, we examine their self-reported business and mission-related innovations, the ways in which they configure and access resources and the practices through which they diffuse innovation in support of their mission. We then consider how these findings inform our understanding of the social innovation capabilities and effects of social enterprise,and their implications for public policy development.

Studying in Cuba, returning home to work : experiences of graduates from the English-speaking Caribbean

Cuba’s higher education scholarship program has received little attention in the literature on education and development. In this chapter, I discuss themes that emerge from my interviews with graduates from English-speaking Caribbean countries who studied in Cuba, as well as Cuban educators, on the nature of their academic programs and their subsequent careers. This facilitates exploration of a number of questions, including the following: 1. How, in the perceptions of scholarship students and graduates, have they experienced the philosophy of combing study, practical work, and research in the tertiary education curriculum in Cuban universities? 2. What impact does studying in Cuba appear to have on graduates after they return to their home countries? 3. How does the experience of the graduates throw light on the relationship between tertiary education and national development?

Introduction: Cuba's Capacity to Share

The Capacity to Share is the first book to document how Cubans share their highly developed educational services with other low-income states, especially those in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. A variety of international and Cuban authors break new ground in presenting this research. They investigate the experiences of people who have studied in Cuba on scholarships from the Cuban government, the implications for their home countries, and the work of Cuban teachers and administrators to support education in other countries. The authors discuss how the Cuban "solidarity" approach prioritizes global educational cooperation for mutual support, rather than imposing conditional aid. The book offers original and unusual insights into issues of culture, education, aid, development, and change as they relate to low-income states.

The Cuban Revolution and Internationalism: Structuring Education and Health

The Capacity to Share is the first book to document how Cubans share their highly developed educational services with other low-income states, especially those in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. A variety of international and Cuban authors break new ground in presenting this research. They investigate the experiences of people who have studied in Cuba on scholarships from the Cuban government, the implications for their home countries, and the work of Cuban teachers and administrators to support education in other countries. The authors discuss how the Cuban "solidarity" approach prioritizes global educational cooperation for mutual support, rather than imposing conditional aid. The book offers original and unusual insights into issues of culture, education, aid, development, and change as they relate to low-income states.

"You help me improve my English, I'll teach you Physics!" Cuban teachers overseas

Lending teachers for two-year periods is one of the ways in which Cuba has been able to collaborate with other countries in their efforts to improve educational planning and practice. My field research in 2001 in Jamaica (March and November) and in Namibia (December) enabled me to obtain information about how Cuban teachers are being utilized, and about the educational implications of this project. In Jamaica, I interviewed 15 Cuban teachers in several schools and one in the vocational institute, as well as the Cuban project supervisor in charge of the 51 Cuban teachers. I also talked with officials at the Jamaican Ministry of Education to obtain an idea of the developmental needs in the various subjects that the Cubans had been asked to teach. In Namibia I interviewed personnel in the National Sports Directorate and the Cuban manager in charge of the sports education project. The chapter draws on these interviews to build a picture of how the program of collaboration is organized, and considers its postcolonial significance, in theory and in practice, as an example of South-South collaboration. The chapter contributes to a multilevel style of comparative education analysis based on microlevel qualitative fieldwork within a framework that compares cross-cultural issues and national policies. The discussion of the educational situation of the host countries suggests why Cuban teachers can contribute to meeting curricular needs, particularly in the areas of the sciences, mathematics, Spanish, and sports. The friendly and joking remark of one of the Cuban teachers to school students in Jamaica: “You help me improve my English, I’ll teach you Physics!” highlights the reciprocal potential of these cooperation projects, discussed in several chapters of this book.

Cuba's Education System: A Foundation for "The Capacity to Share"

The Capacity to Share is the first book to document how Cubans share their highly developed educational services with other low-income states, especially those in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. A variety of international and Cuban authors break new ground in presenting this research. They investigate the experiences of people who have studied in Cuba on scholarships from the Cuban government, the implications for their home countries, and the work of Cuban teachers and administrators to support education in other countries. The authors discuss how the Cuban "solidarity" approach prioritizes global educational cooperation for mutual support, rather than imposing conditional aid. The book offers original and unusual insights into issues of culture, education, aid, development, and change as they relate to low-income states.

Consuming Urban Culture in Contemporary Vietnam

Vietnam is currently undergoing a metamorphosis from a relatively closed society with a centrally planned economy, to a rapidly urbanising one with a global outlook. These changes have been the catalyst for an exciting ferment of activity in popular culture. This volume contains contributions from scholars engaged in the most up-to-date social research in Vietnam, as well as some of Vietnam's most popular cultural producers who are forging new ways of imagining the present whilst at the same time engaging actively in reinterpreting the past. The diverse ways that Vietnam is culturally and socially negotiating the future are examined as the book addresses issues of indigenisation of cultural influences, ambivalence surrounding change, and the consistent blurring of boundaries between informal, non-state cultural activities and formal institutional structures in the evolution of a civil society in Vietnam.